Two teenagers have been seriously injured in a shooting in East York on Thursday night, Toronto police say.

Emergency crews were called to a building in the area of Cosburn and Pape avenues just after 9 p.m. for reports of sound of gunshots.

Insp. Darren Alldrit told reporters that officers located two victims, both suffering from a single gunshot wound in the torso at the rear of 145 Cosburn Avenue.

Toronto paramedics said two males in their teens were taken to a trauma centre in serious but stable condition.

A resident in the building told CP24 that he heard three gunshots prior to police and ambulance arriving at the scene.

"(It's) unsettling," he said. "These things happening within the building is scary."

Alldrit said it is too early in the investigation to determine if the shooting was targeted.

Police said they are looking for a male suspect, possibly in his late teens or early 20s, who may have fled through the backyards in the area.

"This is a solvable crime if people can come forward and provide us with the information we need," Alldrit said.