Police are still searching for two suspects involved in a bold playground shooting in Toronto’s east end that sent a pair of young sisters to hospital for gunshot wounds.

On Friday, a day after the shooting, police arrested 21-year-old Sheldon Eriya from Markham, Ont., and charged him with attempted murder, aggravated assault, discharge of a firearm, possession of cocaine meant for trafficking and possession of proceeds of crime. Mr. Eriya was arrested in Pickering, Ont., east of Scarborough, the area of Toronto where the shooting took place.

He appeared in a Toronto court Saturday morning, according to CBC, and was denied bail. He is expected to next appear in court via video link on Thursday.

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In announcing Mr. Eriya’s arrest, police said they were still on the hunt for two other male suspects. They did not offer any updates on the investigation Sunday.

Detectives believe on Thursday evening just before 5 p.m., a man approached another in a playground in the Scarborough neighbourhood of Alton Towers near McCowan Road and Steeles Avenue East and began shooting at him. As bullets sprayed the small park, two of the 11 children who were playing nearby were wounded.

The two shooting victims – a five-year-old and a nine-year-old who are sisters – underwent surgery at the Hospital for Sick Children in downtown Toronto. In a statement released through the hospital, the girls’ family said they are still recovering.

“At this time the focus is on the recovery and rehabilitation of the girls. We ask that you keep them in your prayers for a speedy recovery and would kindly like to ask for privacy at this time,” the statement said.

Mayor John Tory met with the girls’ mother Saturday to offer his support. The evening of the shooting, he toured the neighbourhood where it took place, hearing residents’ concerns. Speaking to media close to the crime scene, he described the individuals responsible as “profoundly anti-social sewer rats.”

The next day at City Hall, he said, “Those who would fire into a playground where kids are playing, full of kids playing with so little care, don’t deserve to be among us here in the society that we’re building in Toronto and elsewhere in the country.”

