OTTAWA — One man was killed and seven other people were injured after a gunman opened fire in a crowded food court Saturday evening in downtown Toronto’s largest shopping mall, the police said.

Shoppers said that a panic swept through the mall, the Toronto Eaton Center, as a man began shooting at the food court, which had been renovated recently. The police estimated that thousands of people were at the mall, which spans several blocks and has multiple levels.

No one had been arrested in the shooting as of late Saturday, the police said.

Bill Blair, the police chief, said that “the injuries of the man who was killed clearly indicate that he was a targeted victim.” Chief Blair said that the other victims “were very clearly, obviously innocent bystanders” who were struck by indiscriminate gunfire.

“The Eaton Center is almost iconic in this city,” Chief Blair said. “It is where we come to gather.”