Toronto police provided an update on the fatal shooting inside a washroom at Scarborough Town Centre.
Toronto police are investigating after a man in his 20s was found dead along with a firearm in a washroom at Scarborough Town Centre on Thursday afternoon.
Acting Insp. Baheer Sarvanandan said shoppers discovered the man unconscious in a family washroom near the lower-level food court and notified mall security, who then reported the incident to police.
Scarborough Town Centre shooting Police and paramedics respond to a shooting at Scarborough Town Centre on Thursday, Aug. 21, 2025.
The call came in around 1:51 p.m.
“Upon arrival with paramedics, the person was sadly pronounced deceased,” Sarvanandan said. “Near the person there was a firearm located.”
The cause of death has not been released but police previously said he had been shot. The inspector noted that the incident is being investigated as a “suspicious death.”
“There was no sound of gunshots or active shooting. This happened in a very confined space that no one knew,” Sarvanandan said, noting that it appears a single shot was fired.
Scarborough Town Centre shooting Emergency services are in the entrance of a washroom at Scarborough Town Centre responding to a shooting on Thursday, Aug. 21, 2025.
He noted that the homicide unit has been notified and is monitoring the investigation.
“At this point in time, we have our forensic experts on scene examining the immediate area and the surrounding area as well. So, based on that, we’ll find out what really transpired,” Sarvanandan said.
When asked if police were looking for suspects, Sarvanandan said, “At this point in time, we don’t have any definite information to suggest that.”
The mall was not evacuated, as officers determined, by reviewing surveillance video, that the building was safe.
“We take these things very seriously and we know the difference between active shooter to things that are danger to the public. As soon as officers arrived, they found the confined area and the firearm was located and based on preliminary investigation, we deemed it to be safe,” Sarvanandan explained.
“So with less interruption to the community and the businesses, we secured the area that we need to investigate and the rest of the mall is open.”
Police have taped off a sitting area with a garbage bin on the second floor of the mall. They have not said if it’s connected to the shooting scene.
“I’m not sure about that,” Sarvanandan said when asked about it.
“Maybe we have some linkage to our deceased person, so that’s the reason that it’s cordoned off.”
STC shooting A police tape surrounds a sitting area on the second floor of the mall. (Beatrice Vaisman/CP24)
Several staff at the food court told CTV News that they did not hear gunshots, only seeing police officers arrive.
“First they cleared off the washroom, and then they taped off that section, and then more police came in,” one worker said.
‘I am furious’
Community activist Patience Evbagharu said she is disappointed, angry and upset by what happened at the mall.
“I’m taken aback. I am furious. Every single day in the city of Toronto, there is a new shooting. We just haven’t even finished acknowledging and mourning the loss of an eight-year-old boy who died in the city of Toronto at the comfort of his own home,” Evbagharu told CTV News Toronto, referring to JahVai Roy, who was fatally struck by a stray bullet on Saturday.
“And now you have another incident where people are in the mall, doing their shopping, getting some lunch, taking any type of break, and you need to tell me that there’s another shooting—a shooting that impacts not just one person, but everybody.”
She called on elected officials to take action and address the gun violence in the city. Evbagharu wants to see better community programs for the youth.
“Every single day, a life is either lost or somebody is severely injured,” she said.
“When will the city of Toronto and the whole of Canada realize that enough is enough? How many more people and lives do we need to lose before we take action?”
With files from CP24’s Beatrice Vaisman and CTV News Toronto’s Janice Golding