

Codi Wilson, CP24.com





Four people were injured in what has been described as a "gun battle" in Etobicoke's Rexdale neighbourhood Friday night.

Police were initially called to a building near Kipling and Finch avenues at around 6:45 p.m. Friday after reports of a shooting.

Police believe one or more suspects opened fire in a common area of a residential complex at 1 Mt. Olive Dr., injuring three people.

One male with a gunshot wound to the hip was transported to a trauma centre in serious but stable condition.

A female was also transported by EMS to a local hospital with a gunshot wound to the ankle.

Toronto Police Supt. Ron Taverner said the third victim, who was shot in the buttocks, made his own way to the hospital. When he arrived at the emergency department at Etobicoke General Hospital, Taverner said a man who was accompanying the victim was then shot in the parking lot by a suspect who had apparently followed them there.

"Obviously this is a very brazen, very outrageous act to be happening at that time of day when there are children in the area," Taverner said.

Three victims have been released from hospital, police say, while one remains in life-threatening condition at Sunnybrook Hospital.

Sunnybrook placed its ER under lockdown Friday night as a precaution, police say.

"There was an incident that happened at Sunnybrook that we are unsure whether it is related so out of an abundance of caution ... that hospital's emergency is on lockdown."

Family members of the hospitalized victim did not want to speak to reporters on camera but said they felt left in the dark about the man's condition. They also said they felt as though it was not safe to be at the hospital.

Officers remained on the scene of 1 Mt. Olive Dr. Friday night.

Investigators were also probing a scene at Martin Grove Road south of Finch Avenue that police believe is linked to the shooting.

Investigators say they believe there are four suspects and two vehicles involved.