Vehicles are fueled at a gas station in Toronto, Canada, May 8, 2022. The regular gas price of the Greater Toronto Area hit a historical high on Sunday to 1.999 Canadian dollars per liter, according to local media. (Photo by Zou Zheng/Xinhua)

 Five people were killed and another wounded Sunday in a shooting in the suburbs of the Canadian city of Toronto, police said.

The suspect also died after an exchange of fire with law enforcement, local police chief Jim MacSween told reporters, saying the shooting took place in an apartment building. The injured person was taken to hospital and the life is not in danger.

"Once the officers arrived, they were met with... a horrendous scene where numerous victims were deceased," MacSween told reporters, according to Canadian media. Police were investigating the motive and whether there was a connection between the victims and the male suspect, who has not been named.

The victims were found in different apartments in the building, which is located in Vaughan, in the suburbs about 30 kilometers north of Toronto.

Residents were evacuated immediately and dozens of ambulances and police officers were at the scene in the evening, Canadian media said.

While it suffers far fewer mass shootings than its American neighbor, Canada has experienced an upsurge in gun violence, which has prompted it to recently legislate to ban handguns.

In April 2020, a gunman disguised as a policeman killed 22 people in the eastern province of Nova Scotia, Canada's worst mass shooting. In September 2022, a man killed 11 people and stabbed 18 others in Saskatchewan province.

Firearms-related crimes account for less than 3 percent of all violence in Canada, but since 2009 the per capita rate of guns being fired with intent to kill or wound has increased fivefold.

Canada banned 1,500 types of military-grade or assault-style firearms in 2020, after the Nova Scotia shooting.

Reuters