Man shot dead in Yorkdale Mall parking lot on Thursday: police

A man in his 20s is dead after being shot outside the Yorkdale Shopping Centre in North York Thursday morning. 

Officers responded to a call about a shooting in the mall’s parking lot in the area of Dufferin Street and Highway 401 at around 6:13 a.m., police said in a social media post.

When they arrived, they found a man who had been shot. Police provided life-saving measures but the man was pronounced dead at the scene, said Det. Sajeev Nair at a news conference outside the mall on Thursday morning.

Nair said he couldn’t release any further details about the victim at this time as police are still working to notify his next of kin. 

Investigators believe this was “not a random shooting,” Nair said. 

“We understand that an incident like this, particularly in a public location like a mall, can be deeply unsettling,” he said. 

“I want to ensure the public that we’re dedicating all necessary resources to this case.”

A Yorkdale Shopping Centre spokesperson told CBC Toronto in an emailed statement that the safety of guests and employees is of utmost importance, pointing to their enhanced security and 24/7 surveillance systems.

“We extend our deepest sympathies to the loved ones of the individual who lost their life today. Violence, especially gun violence, has no place in our city,” the statement reads.

The spokesperson said the mall will still be open today, with the northeast-side entrance doors and parking lot temporarily closed for the ongoing police investigation.

Police are asking the public to avoid that area as it is “still an active crime scene,” Nair said.

There was a large police presence outside the mall Thursday morning, with yellow tape and several police cars surrounding a section of the mall’s parking lot outside a bookstore.

Police are asking anyone who was in the area at the time who may have witnessed the incident or have dashcam footage to contact them, Nair said.