Two men are dead after being gunned down inside a popular late-night restaurant and pub in downtown Winnipeg.

Police were called to Johnny G's — on Main Street between York Avenue and Broadway — around 1:30 a.m. CT Wednesday and found the men suffering from gunshot wounds.

They were rushed to hospital in serious condition but died a short time later. Police gave limited details about the shooting.

"I've been advised that there may be people that investigators want to speak to, but I can tell you that there's no additional threat to the public. And you can take from that what you will," said Winnipeg police spokesperson Const. Rob Carver.

Investigators from the police service's identification unit were inside the business for hours, which was surrounded by yellow caution tape.

Police say two men were rushed to hospital in serious condition with gunshot wounds and died as a result of their injuries. (Lyzaville Sale/CBC)

Carver said he did not know how many customers were inside the restaurant at the time of the shooting but that "there absolutely were other people."

"I don't think it was packed — I don't think you'll find most restaurants on a very snowy Wednesday morning packed at 1:30 a.m., but there were people," he said.

The double homicide comes almost exactly six years after another shooting death at Johnny G's, which is typically open until 4 a.m. every day of the week and is a go-to stop for the after-hours bar crowd.

William Moar, a 24-year-old member of a known city street gang, was shot just before 2 a.m. on Feb. 15, 2013.

According to court testimony in that case, ​three people followed Moar to Johnny G's from another downtown bar. One of them, Dylan Chatkana, covered his face with a bandana, armed himself with a sawed-off rifle, and walked into the restaurant after Moar, court was told.

He opened fire as Moar walked out of the restroom.

Chatkana, a teen at the time, was found guilty and sentenced as an adult to life in prison.

Two men are dead after being gunned down inside a popular late-night restaurant and pub in downtown Winnipeg Wednesday morning. 1:17

Kyle McAulay watched the aftermath of Wednesday's shooting from inside the VIA Rail building on the other side of Main Street. He was working an overnight shift when police sirens caught his attention.

When he looked out the window, McAulay said he saw two unmarked police cars pull up outside the restaurant, before being joined by several more. Soon, he estimates there were as many as 20 emergency vehicles on the scene.

"I didn't see much of the incident unfold," he said. "I did see ... I'm not sure if they were alive or not ... but two people get carried [out of the restaurant] on stretchers."

McAulay said the two stretchers were loaded into the back of an ambulance, which didn't leave the scene for between 10 and 15 minutes.

"I thought it was a good thing that they weren't really leaving the scene ... I thought that meant they just had some minor injuries, if anything ... but it looks like that wasn't the case, unfortunately."​

McAulay also said he saw police lead a man out of the restaurant in handcuffs and into the back of a police cruiser.

On its Facebook page, the restaurant announced Wednesday afternoon its Main Street location would be closed until further notice and its McDermot Avenue location would only be open until 1:30 a.m. daily.