toronto shooting

Video shows chaos after shots fired at EFS nightclub in Toronto this weekend

Toronto has felt busier than ever lately amid the peak of a beautiful summer full of events following months of lockdowns, which is what makes violent incidents in the city even more terrifying, especially some of the recent ones that have taken place in densely-packed public places.

There was not just one, but two major shootings in busy parts of the downtown core this weekend, bringing back memories of previous weekends when we've been rocked with multiple similiar incidents in a row.

First, a 24-year-old man was shot and killed just outside the city's main transit hub and events venue, Union Station and Scotiabank Arena, around 7:30 p.m. on Saturday while thousands of people were in the vicinity at bars, restaurants, and commuting to and from major gatherings like the Honda Indy, the Blue Jays game, concerts and more.

The entire station was evacuated and locked down, and transit stalled for hours as a result, with one of two suspects seen running into the hub after the crime near York St. and Bremner Blvd.

Then, hours later, shots rang out in the packed EFS Social Club at King and Bathurst, a mere 10 minute drive away.

At least two people were seriously injured in that shooting, which took place around 3:30 a.m. — and the hectic aftermath was all caught on video.

"Soo don't go to EFS because apparently security doesn't check for guns?" a clubgoer posted overtop of a video taken in the wake of the incident, showing police circulating the venue and urgently kicking people out.

The air is tense with chatter and yelling beneath overhead spotlights, with some audibly scared, asking "someone got shot?" and others just trying to down their expensive alcohol before leaving in a panic — a huge contrast to the bustling party that the popular club must have been just minutes before, and is every other weekend night.

The original footage, posted to TikTok, garnered nearly 20k likes, thousands of shares and hundreds of comments, and that's all before it was cross-shared to other platforms by outlets like 6ixdriptv.

"Toronto is getting crazier and crazier!!" one commenter noted. Another, "Wow so glad me and my friends decided against going there last night."

Still others suggested that security or the club itself be charged for not thoroughly checking entrants enough to catch the firearm.

A bit further outside the core, a third shooting happened around 8:30 p.m. Sunday at Danforth and Main, where a man was found suffering from gunshot wounds in a covered parking garage.

These and similar recent incidents in public places like on transit have people feeling incredibly nervous to move around the city this summer, though it feels like the first one in a long time that Toronto is back to its normal self.

Lead photo by

@ash.l


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