A shooting at a South Asian convention centre has left two men dead early Sunday morning during a Father’s Day event. Peel Regional Police say they were called to Chandni Convention Centre on Gateway Boulevard, near Queen Street East at 2:01 a.m. for reports of shots fired. They arrived to find two men suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. The two dead men have not been identified yet.
By DESIBUZZCanada Staff With News Files
BRAMPTON – A shooting at a South Asian convention centre has left two men dead early Sunday morning during a Father’s Day event.
Peel Regional Police say they were called to Chandni Convention Centre on Gateway Boulevard, near Queen Street East at 2:01 a.m. for reports of shots fired.
They arrived to find two men suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. The two dead men have not been identified yet.
One was pronounced dead at the scene and the other was rushed to hospital but later pronounced dead.
Relatives who attended the scene told CP24 one of the victims was a man in his 40s who had six small children.
Peel Regional Police spokesperson Charles Payette told CP24 there was a Father’s Day event occurring at the address, which is home to Chandni Convention Centre.
“We are appealing to anyone who had video footage of the incident to contact investigators,” he said.
Payette said officers believe there were “many” people in the vicinity of the centre when shots rang out.
He said initial evidence suggests shots were fired inside the venue.
But Chandni Convention Centre’s manager, Richard Marshall, told CP24 the shooting occurred outside the venue as the Father’s Day event was winding down, and he has surveillance camera footage to prove it.
“This happened outside – I am the manager, I was there, nothing happened inside,” he said. “As far as I know (the suspects and victims) came from some other event.”
He said he witnessed the video of the shooting occurring in the venue’s parking lot, and footage from all 32 cameras at the venue is already with homicide detectives.
He said he took issue with the police version of what transpired.
“This is a classy facility, we run a clean business, everything that we do, we do above board.”
He estimated there were 150 people still inside the venue when gunshots rang out.
Marshall said 36 security guards were on duty for the event. He said he believed security denied access to those involved in the incident before it took place.
He said gunshots rang out “about four, five minutes” later.
“(There were) a lot of people running, trying to get back inside because remember it took place on the outside,” Marshall said. “Everybody was trying to rush to get back on the inside.”
He said the event space is trying to get paid duty police officers to help with security outside the building but has not been successful.
Marshall said the event space had handed security footage over to police.
The Peel police homicide unit, which is leading the investigation, has not released suspect information or a description of any wanted vehicles.
This is the second shooting incident at this location in the last six months.
In December 2021, a man and a woman were seriously injured in what police termed a targeted shooting.
Police say there is nothing to suggest at this time that this morning’s shooting is in any way connected to that incident.
“I’m very shocked because this is the second time on the outside of our facility,” said Marshall. “It gives us concern because we have a lot of weddings, we have a lot of kids in here, a lot of parents. Stuff like this, it gives us a bad reputation.”
