TORONTO (AP) – A shooting that started at a Toronto nightclub event hosted by rapper Drake and then spilled outside onto the streets left at least two people dead and three others wounded, police said. It wasn’t clear if Drake was present during the shooting.
Toronto Deputy Police Chief Peter Sloly said shots were fired inside the Muzik nightclub on the Exhibition Place grounds in downtown Toronto, despite a large police presence outside the venue. The shooting took place at about 3:20 a.m. Tuesday when the nightclub was shutting down.
Sloly said at least one victim was shot inside the club, before the shooting moved outside.
“This was a brazen, large-scale, ongoing firearm incident where our officers and members of the public were directly in the line of fire,” Sloly said. “We are very lucky that this is not a larger body count, quite frankly.”
The club said in a statement that its last patrons of the night were exiting the building as gunshots were heard. Spokesman Jeff Chatterton said the lights were on, the music was off and the club had stopped serving alcohol 90 minutes earlier. The club said it had over 70 security guards on duty and that visitors were inspected with metal-detecting wands.