TORONTO: Five people were injured on Saturday in the parking lot of a mosque in Toronto after being fired upon by unknown assailants from a car.
The victims left a neighbourhood mosque after Ramazan prayers at midnight and gathered at a parking lot at around 1AM on Saturday when they fired upon. The incident occurred in the Scarborough area of Toronto.
Police have yet to assign a motive to the attack, though they told reporters that it may have been a “random act of violence”. Toronto police chief James Ramer said that it was “too early to confirm motive but our Hate Crimes Unit is engaged and the Division is working with the local community”.
Police believe this was a drive-by shooting and have identified a blue vehicle that left the area after the firing upon the five men, adding that all injuries serious but not life threatening. According to the police, the victims ranged in age from 28 to 35, and were discussing where to break their fast before they were shot at.
According to local media, two of the injured were taken to a trauma centre, while two others were admitted to a hospital and a fifth reached a hospital on his own. Police said that casings and bullet holes were located at the scene while the suspects fled in blue car,
This comes less than a month after a 24-year-old male was arrested in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) after an attack on congregants at a mosque.
The attack on the Dar Al-Tawheed Islamic Centre in Mississauga occurred at the time congregants had gathered for dawn prayers. In a statement, Peel regional police said the assailant had “discharged bear spray” and was “brandishing a hatchet”.
There were about thirty persons present at the time and “members of the Mosque quickly subdued the man until police arrived,” the statement said. Police arrested Mohammad Moiz Omar, a resident of Mississauga, for the attack.
