3 people dead after shooting in North York business, police say

Three people have diedafter a shooting insidea North York business on Mondayand Toronto police say they believe the shooterwas among the dead.

The shooting happened inside anofficeon Mallard Road, nearDon Mills Road, north of Lawrence Avenue E. The office isnear a daycare and aschool.

Police said two men and a woman died. Officers were called to the business for the sound of gunshots at about 3:25 p.m.

Det.-Sgt. Alan Bartlett, spokesperson for the Toronto Police Service's homicide and missing persons unit, told reporters that two of the three dead are believed to be co-workers. He said there were four people inside the officeat the time. Police are still notifying next of kin andhe declined to say how many shots were fired.

"I can tell you that the person that we believe to be responsible is among the deceased. But I meanwith every homicide investigationwe have to be opento all possibilities. This is no different from any other homicide investigation. We're going to deploy all of the same resourcesin an effort tounderstand exactly what transpired inside here," he said.

Police believe an altercation that took place is related to the business itself. Bartlett said the business has to do with financial transactions.

When police enteredthe business, they located three victims. Names and ages have not been released.

St. George Mini School, a daycare, and Northmount School, an all-boys Catholic elementary school, wereplaced in lockdown as police investigated the killing.Westfield Secondary School is also in the area.

Toronto police's emergency task force went to the scene to ensure public safety, Bartlettadded.

"We have no reports of any students or any children being directly impacted by this other than they were in a lockdown for a period of time," he said. "It's my understanding thatall of those individuals have been have been reunited with their parents."

Once the emergency task force and canine units cleared the building,thechildren were allowed to exit.

TTC buseswere brought in to shelter the children atthe school and daycare, police said.At 6:30 p.m., police said all of the children from the daycare and school were reunited with their parents. Some of the children were brought out in cribs.

Parents and caregivers gathered behind police tape at the daycare to pick up their children. A supervisor earlier told the parents that everyone inside was safe.

Parents reunite with children at daycare

Michelle Riddolls, a mother of two children at the daycare, said she waited aboutan hour to pick them up. She said she had a lot of anxiety after she heard about the shooting.

"I'm happy that the kids were safe and that's what matters," she said. "I'm happy that the little ones were safe."

Riddolls said she spoke to the police then she was told by the daycare manager that the children were going to come out, one by one, to be released into the care of the parents who were present.

She said she was feeling "a massive amount of relief" to be able to pick up herchildren.

Vanessa Smythe, a mother of one child at the daycare, said she was relieved to know that her son was fine. She said the daycare staff were communicating to parents as the incident was unfolding.

"I'm just glad he's OK," she said. "We're going to get him home and fed."

There will be heavy police presencein the area overnight and roads are closed as they continue to investigate.

Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow said on X, formerly Twitter, that her "heart goes out" to the families of those killed in the shooting.

"Today has been a terrifying day for students and children who were locked down in the school and daycare near where the shooting took place," Chow said on Monday night.

Chow saidToronto's community crisis response program has been mobilizedto provide support to the community.