Police, EMS and firefighters wheel an adult male, with what appears to be more than one gunshot to his upper left chest, towards an ambulance for transport to hospital. Two victims were transported to hospital following a late afternoon shooting at the Eaton Centre 
 
 Shooting RICK MADONIK/TORONTO STAR Police, EMS and firefighters wheel an adult male, with what appears to be more than one gunshot to his upper left chest, towards an ambulance for transport to hospital. Two victims were transported to hospital following a late afternoon shooting at the Eaton Centre 
 
 Alexandra Bosanac 
 
 Staff Reporter 
 
 
 
 A 25-year-old man is dead and seven others injured after gunfire broke out in the Eaton Centre food court around 6:30 p.m. Saturday. 
 
 One of the victims is in life threatening condition and two are in critical condition — one of whom is a 13-year-old boy. Two females and a male were transported to hospital in serious condition with gunshot wounds. A 30-year old pregnant woman knocked over by a frenzied crowd went into labour and was taken to hospital. Another female was taken to hospital after her leg was grazed by a bullet. 
 
 The other victims are said to have injuries related to trampling and pushing, said Const. Victor Kwong. 
 
 Shots were fired in the food court and outside the Sport Chek store near the Dundas St. E. entrance at Yonge St. There was also a commotion at the Queen St. E. entrance. 
 
 Detectives from the homicide squad have yet to release a description of the suspect. They currently believe a lone shooter is responsible. The suspect may have rushed out of the mall with the panicked crowds. 
 
 Photos: Victims transported, crowds gather at Eaton Centre 
 
 It looks like a targeted shooting, Police Chief Bill Blair told reporters at 10 p.m., but the shooter opened fire in a congested area and bystanders were hit. 
 
 Blair said he was reminded of the killing of Jane Creba, a bystander caught in the middle of a gang shooting on Yonge St. on Boxing Day 2005. 
 
 “I am very sadly reminded of that event … one of the most tragic events that happened in the city of Toronto.” 
 
 Mayor Rob Ford arrived at the scene at 9:30 p.m. after learning of the incident. 
 
 Porter: It could have been any of us; it wounds all of us 
 
 “I’m just down here to offer my support to the police and we want to make sure that these people are apprehended and arrested, whoever committed this terrible crime.” 
 
 Ford, who was coaching a high-school football game earlier in the day, said he was upset the young boy visiting the mall with his family had been injured. 
 
 “It rips me apart. I was just at a football game with 13, 14-year-old boys. It pulls on my heartstrings when you hear something like that. 
 
 “I want to extend my condolences to the victim and their families. Our prayers are with them.” 
 
 Footage from several area stores and mall cameras are being reviewed by police, who are also interviewing dozens of witnesses who were in the busy mall at the time of the shooting. 
 
 Multiple police crews remain at the scene and a command post has been set up at Queen St. E. and Yonge St. 
 
 Nicholas Kalakonis, a 22-year-old who works with Volkswagen, was walking through the Eaton Centre near Sport Chek when he heard a "bang bang bang bang." 
 
 "I dropped to the ground so I wouldn't get hit," he said, "it didn't really work." 
 
 When he got up he knew he had been shot. "It felt like a really bad muscle cramp," he said. The bullet went through the back of his thigh, just under his left hip, and out the front. 
 
 Kalakonis called an ambulance and was taken to St. Mike's. "You could probably, if you wanted to, stick your finger (through the hole) in my leg," he said, sitting in a wheelchair for his recovery. 
 
 His family found out about the injury after Kalakonis posted a Facebook status update. 
 
 "Basically it said 'I've been shot’," said his father Chris Kalakonis. "It's unbelievable.” 
 
 Bobby Umar was grabbing a quick meal with his wife, three-year-old son and one-year-old daughter when the shooting occurred. 
 
 Umar’s wife had just taken their daughter to a nearby washroom when he heard four or five loud shots fired in rapid succession. 
 
 “I looked up and saw a guy, right in front of Szechuan (food stand) … I pretty much grabbed my son and dove under the table,” said Umar. 
 
 “He was asking what was that noise and what we were doing under the table and why was everyone running so fast. I said there was a bad man and he was being naughty.” 
 
 After about a minute, Umar saw the suspect fleeing southbound toward Queen St. E. 
 
 Food court employees directed shoppers toward an emergency exit which leads to Bell Trinity Square. 
 
 Umar said his son was scared and disoriented by the rush of bodies. 
 
 “He was asking me questions all the way, and the more I didn’t answer the more scared he got.” 
 
 Umar’s wife was stuck inside the washroom. Security guards were instructing people to remain in the cubicle and to stand on top of the toilets. 
 
 They were eventually reunited at Yonge St. and Queen St. E. 
 
 “She broke down crying. It was emotionally tense for her, too.” 
 
 Erica Solmes, who works at the McDonald's on the north end of the Eaton Centre, was serving food when she says she heard at least 15 shots being fired just minutes after 6:30 p.m. Saturday. 
 
 "It was bang, bang, bang ... many shots quickly," she said. There were loud screams and dozens of people started running, many jumping over tables and chairs. "It was chaotic," said Solmes. She and others at McDonald's headed for the nearest exit. 
 
 Within moments, Solmes said a voice over the PA advised people to leave, even though some were stranded inside stores. 
 
 "The voice was shaky," said Solmes. 
 
 Constantinos Pagiatakis was sitting in the food court when he heard the shots. He saw a "black man with dreadlocks" limping, holding his leg. The man collapsed. 
 
 Pagiatakis heard more gunshots. 
 
 "Then I just ran," he said. 
 
 "Everyone was screaming, babies screaming too," said Hans Ademi. 
 
 Pagiatakis saw another woman who appeared to be shot above one knee. "Her blood was all over her jeans, there was dark blood everywhere, said Hussien Kedhumi. 
 
 [View the story "Eaton Centre shootings" on Storify] 
 
 With files from Raveena Aulakh and Stephanie Findlay ||||| Toronto's police chief has promised a "relentless" pursuit of the suspect in a fatal shooting at Toronto's Eaton Centre on Saturday evening. 
 
 Chief Bill Blair said police have a description of the suspect, but are not releasing the information until it is confirmed through witness interviews and video evidence. 
 
 "A lot of innocent people were hurt and a lot of innocent people were put at risk," he told media outside the mall. "We will be relentless in our pursuit of the individual or individuals responsible for this violence." 
 
 The shooting happened around 6:30 p.m. in the mall food-court, and left a 25-year-old man dead and several others injured. 
 
 Among those hurt was a 13-year-old boy who was sent to hospital in critical condition. His condition is improving, police said Sunday morning. 
 
 At least two family members were at Toronto's Hospital of Sick Children with the boy early Sunday afternoon, including one young woman who said she was his sister and was caught in the gunfire with him. 
 
 
 
 "We really don't have anything to say right now," said a middle-aged man, believe to be the boy's uncle, who asked for the family's privacy. 
 
 A 20-year-old man and a woman also suffered life-threatening gunshot wounds, and another women was grazed by a bullet. A pregnant woman was knocked down as shoppers clamoured to flee the building, and went into labour. She had not yet given birth Sunday morning. 
 
 At least one of the injured has been released from hospital, police said. 
 
 Outside St. Michael's Hospital, Moniruz Zaman said his 23-year-old niece, a recent graduate of George Brown's business program, was shot in the leg yesterday and is expected to be released from hospital to her parents' home on Sunday. 
 
 He said his niece, Tasnia Mahmood, had been shopping when she and her friend decided to stop at the food court for dinner. Before they could have something to eat, he said, chaos broke out when shots were fired. She was hiding under a table before she realized her right leg was bleeding. 
 
 "She's doing quite well now but still has pain," he said. 
 
 Mr. Zaman said his niece called 911 but the ambulance was "quite late" and mall security tried to bring her upstairs. 
 
 Ms. Mahmood and her friend are shaken by the shooting but are physically OK, he said. Mr. Zaman said his niece has a large cast on her leg, and beneath that, the bone is shattered. 
 
 "We never expect these kinds of things in Canada, especially in the Eaton Centre. I will not let my kids go to the mall any more, shopping or for food," he said. "There's no guarantee they'll come back." 
 
 There were reports on Sunday that another shooting occurred in downtown Toronto just hours before a gunman opened fire at the Eaton Centre shopping mall. 
 
 Mike Spicer said he was driving south on Spadina Avenue with his son and his son’s friend around 2 p.m. when their car became stuck in standstill traffic south of College Street. 
 
 “We heard three shots fired, and we just said, ‘Oh, it sounds like a gun,’” he said. “And all three of us looked that were in the car and there was a guy running down the street toward us with a gun.” 
 
 He said the man was holding the handgun in his right hand as he ran. He described him as black and said he was wearing a grey hoodie and loose-fitting black jeans. 
 
 “I managed to kind of squeeze up [against the car in front] to get out of the line of that street,” he said, so he wouldn’t be directly in the man’s path. 
 
 Mr. Spicer said he thinks the man may have ducked into the building before he reached Spadina Avenue. He called 911 about a half an hour later. 
 
 Early Sunday afternoon there were at least five police vehicles outside the mall, including two cruisers on the pavement near the main entrance at Yonge and Dundas streets. Two uniformed officers were standing by the revolving doors as the mall remained closed for the day. 
 
 The area around the mall, Toronto’s largest shopping centre in the downtown core, was quickly blocked off Saturday and the Eaton Centre itself was evacuated and closed down. 
 
 Marcus Neves-Polonio, a 19-year-old busser at the food court, said he was walking when a man took out a gun and started firing near the Big Smoke Burger. 
 
 Mr. Neves-Polonio said he witnessed someone being shot right in the chest. 
 
 He said he saw two people on the ground. 
 
 He ducked under a table. "I just hoped he wouldn't go in my direction," he said. "I easily could have been shot, too." 
 
 The scene became "mayhem" as people scattered, running for the doors, said Mr. Neves-Polonio. 
 
 Ujjawal Patel, 28, said he was inside the Eaton Centre when he heard 12 to 15 shots ring out. He quickly fled. 
 
 "I was so scared," said Mr. Patel. "If it can happen in the Eaton Centre it can happen anywhere." 
 
 Toronto Mayor Rob Ford came to the mall after 9 p.m. to express his sadness. 
 
 "First of all, I want to extend my condolences to the family of the victims ... hopefully they pull through. This incident tonight is absolutely terrible, and I'm here to offer my support to the police," Mr. Ford told media. 
 
 "I was just at a football game this afternoon with 13-, 14-year-old kids ... I hope the young man pulls through, and I'll do everything I can to support him, his family and all the other shooting victims too." 
 
 The mayor was joined shortly after by police Chief Bill Blair, who said that "we are very much at the early stages of this investigation." He encouraged anyone with information about the shooting to contact 52 Division at (416) 808-5200. 
 
 Chief Blair told reporters the shooting appears to be targeted, "but there are a number of other people who were clearly innocent bystanders going about their daily lives." 
 
 Later in the evening, Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty issued a statement of condolence, giving thanks to first responders who arrived on the scene. 
 
 "On behalf of all Ontarians, I want to express my condolences to family and friends of everyone involved in tonight's shooting at the Eaton Centre," the Premier said. "The victim and those who were injured are particularly in Ontarians' thoughts and prayers right now as we attempt to make sense of this instance of senseless, tragic violence in the heart of a peaceful city." 
 
 Prime Minister Stephen Harper issued a statement Sunday, saying he was "... shocked and saddened to learn about the deadly attack at the Eaton Centre in Toronto yesterday." 
 
 "Canadians should be assured that such depraved and monstrous acts will be met with the full force of the law," he said. 
 
 Toronto Blue Jays baseball player Brett Lawrie was in the mall when the shooting took place and was one of the first to take to Twitter to break the news. 
 
 It’s not the first time the area has seen gunfire. 
 
 In 2005, 15-year-old Jane Creba was killed and six others were wounded on Boxing Day, 2005, when shots rang out just north of the shopping centre. 
 
 With reports from Kim Mackrael, Chris Hannay, Paige Ellis, Evan Annett and The Canadian Press 
 
 Were you at Eaton Centre when shots were fired in a food court on Saturday evening? Send us your photos and videos and we’ll collect them on our website.
– Gunfire in a downtown Toronto mall last night has left one dead and seven injured, reports the Toronto Star. Police said the shooting appeared to be targeted, but, as it happened in one of Canada's most crowded malls, numerous bystanders were also shot in the attack and more were injured in the resulting panic as people fled. One mall worker described the shooter as a “just crazy, mentally unstable" dark-skinned man in a hoodie, reports CNews, but no arrests have yet been made. The shooter killed a 25-year-old man, put a 13-year-old girl in critical condition, and sent a pregnant woman into labor in the chaos. "I dropped to the ground so I wouldn't get hit," said a 22-year-old who was shot in the hip, but "it didn't really work." He was among many who took to social media to describe the scene, and told his family about the shooting via Facebook. "Pretty sure someone just let off a round bullets in eaton center mall .. Wow just sprinted out of the mall ... Through traffic ...," tweeted Blue Jays player Brett Lawrie. The Globe and Mail reports that the Toronto police chief addressed the media a few hours later, saying, "We will be relentless in our pursuit of the individual or individuals responsible for this violence."