Sixteen people have been shot after 13 shootings over the August long weekend — a spike in gun violence that prompted Toronto’s police chief to issue a call for witnesses to come forward.“This is not Toronto,” chief Mark Saunders told reporters at a media conference at police headquarters Monday afternoon. “And rest assured that I will be providing the resources where they need to be to solve these cases.”Saunders spoke out after gunfire inside a full North York nightclub around 2:15 a.m., injuring five people and sending scores of panicked clubgoers running for cover. The incident is among a series of 13 distinct shootings since Saturday, five of them leaving at least two people with gunshot wounds.Just hours after Saunders’ press conference, more shots rang out in North York, near Flemington Rd. and Stockton Rd., sending a man with serious gun shot wounds to hospital and injuring another person. Police said two suspects were seen fleeing the area to a nearby complex.Monday’s early morning shooting at District 45 nightclub, located 1300 Finch Ave. W., began at the back after an altercation broke out between some of the patrons, police said.Read more: Man seriously injured after shooting at Bridle Path Airbnb rentalAnti-violence project takes innovative approach to getting over the youth ‘trust hump’With 90 homicides in 2018, Toronto marks grim record Saunders could not say Monday if there was more than one shooter during the gunfire. Shell casings were found both in and outside of the club, Saunders said, meaning the shooting likely took place indoors and outside.Five people were injured; one remains in serious condition and the other four suffered non-life-threatening injuries. Saunders said the club shooting particularly troubled him, in part because of how packed it was at the time. He hopes that through witness information and a review of surveillance footage, police would be able to provide more i ...
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