A 32-year-old man is dead and two women are in hospital after a triple shooting at a packed downtown restaurant early Sunday.

The shooting happened just before 4 a.m. at the Garden Restaurant at Dundas and Chestnut streets, Toronto police said.

Det. Sgt. Gary Giroux said the victims were sitting at a table together when the male victim and one of the female victims became involved in an altercation with a group of two to three men. That escalated into an exchange of words, at which point two of the men pulled out weapons, with one of them opening fire.

“There’s a single shooter by all accounts,” Giroux said, though he added that still needs to be confirmed with forensics.

One man was shot in the head and was pronounced dead on scene, paramedics said. Giroux said he was shot multiple times at close range. In a news release issued Sunday afternoon, police identified him as Tariq Mohammed, 31, of Mississauga.

Two women in their 20s were also hit by gunfire – one in the abdomen and the other in the chest. They were rushed to hospital – one with life-threatening injuries and the other with serious injuries, paramedics said. Police later said their injuries are considered to be non-life-threatening.

The suspects then fled the scene on foot.

Giroux said the restaurant was about 95 per cent full at the time of the shooting. He said plates of food and the coats and jackets of frightened patrons were still sitting in place at the restaurant when police arrived to inspect the scene. Giroux estimated that more than 30 people were in the venue when the shooting took place.

Giroux said investigators are now searching for two suspects who fled the scene.

In a news release, police said the suspected shooter is described as a black male of approximately 20 to 30 years of age. He has a lanky build and a dark complexion, standing around five-foot-ten to five-foot-eleven. He was wearing a black hoodie and a black toque.

Another suspect is described as a black male between 20 and 30 years of age. He has a stocky build and is shorter than the first suspect. He has bulging eyes and hair in cornrows to the back of his neck. He was wearing a dark hoodie with writing or a logo on the front.

Police said the suspects were last seen running southbound on Chestnut Street, possibly to a waiting or parked vehicle.

While the motive for the shooting was not immediately clear, Giroux said Mohamed and the two other victims had been at Muzik Nightclub at the CNE grounds prior to their arrival at the restaurant. He said that outing might be related to the events that unfolded at the restaurant, but police are still trying to determine if that’s the case..

Police are reviewing surveillance footage from the area and from Muzik and are interviewing dozens of witnesses who were at the popular after-hours restaurant at the time of the shooting.

A small stretch of Dundas Street in front of the restaurant remains closed as police investigate the fatal shooting.

Police are asking anyone with information about the shooting to contact investigators at 416-808-2222.

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