A shooting at a popular annual street festival in Toronto killed two men and wounded four others on Saturday evening, triggering panic among thousands of attendees before police secured the scene. The incident was reported at around 8:12pm local time near the intersection of St Clair Avenue West and Arlington Avenue, where the Salsa on St Clair festival was underway. Six people in total were found with gunshot wounds; two were pronounced dead at the scene.

Toronto Deputy Police Chief Francisco Barredo confirmed that what initially prompted an active-shooter warning was, in fact, an exchange of gunfire between two individuals targeting each other — not an indiscriminate attack by a single gunman. Two firearms were recovered from the scene, and police were managing three separate crime scenes linked to the incident. An estimated 13,000 people were present at the festival when the shooting occurred, and Barredo described the scene as "very chaotic". No arrests had been made by the time of a late-night press conference, and investigations remained ongoing.

Eyewitnesses described scenes of sudden terror. Valerie Rodriguez, who was seated at a nearby restaurant, said people began screaming and running without warning. "We got scared because we didn't know exactly what was happening," she said. Festival vendor Patsy Gutierrez recalled seeing "a huge wave" of people fleeing. "Everybody started getting frantic and then we stopped serving," she said.

The Salsa on St Clair festival is an annual celebration of Latin American culture held in Toronto's St Clair West neighbourhood, drawing large crowds for live music, dancing, food and cultural performances. Toronto, Canada's largest city, is widely regarded as one of North America's safer major urban centres, and fatal multi-victim shootings in public spaces are relatively uncommon there. "Toronto is one of the safest cities in the world, but we are 3 million people and unfortunately we are not immune," Barredo said.

Leaders across Canada condemned the attack. Prime Minister Mark Carney said he was "horrified" and offered his prayers to the victims' families and those in critical condition, pledging full support to police efforts to apprehend those responsible. Ontario Premier Doug Ford called the violence "senseless" and said the perpetrator "must be caught, brought to justice and spend the rest of their life behind bars." Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow described the shooting as a "reckless and irresponsible act of violence right in the middle of a festival attended by families." Police urged anyone with information or witness testimony to come forward.