TORONTO — A man whose family said he suffered from psychosis and depression fired a handgun into restaurants and cafes in a lively Toronto neighborhood, killing a 10-year-old girl and an 18-year-old woman and wounding 13 others in an attack that has shaken the confidence of many in the normally safe city. Hussain died shortly after exchanging gunfire with Toronto police officers on Bowden Street, not far from the strip of restaurants where the attacks took place. Family condemns 'horrific actions'

Hussain's family emailed a statement to CBC Toronto saying they are devastated by what happened and that their son was struggling with "severe mental health challenges," including psychosis and depression. They said medications did not help him and the interventions of professionals were unsuccessful. “While we did our best to seek help for him throughout his life of struggle and pain, we could never imagine that this would be his devastating and destructive end.”

Police have revealed next to no information about Hussain or his motives, but said they are investigating the case from all angles. But we don’t know why or what all this is supposed to mean to us.”

Those answers did not immediately come from Toronto Police Chief Mark Saunders, who declined to comment on what prompted the attack. “I was up until about five in the morning just devastated.”

Toronto Mayor John Tory called the shooting an “unspeakable” act and said the time had come to confront the rising prevalence of guns in the city, which has experienced a spike in shootings in recent weeks. Here is the entire statement from Hussain's family:

"We are at a terrible loss for words but we must speak out to express our deepest condolences to the families who are now suffering on account of our son's horrific actions. We ran to the back of restaurant to see that Jason’s friend was in there safe and so was my wife.”

Other witnesses posted photos and videos online, including a clip that appears to show a man, clad in black and carrying a satchel, walk a few steps before lifting his arms in front of him as gunshots ring out. Ontario’s police watchdog said there was an exchange of gunfire between the assailant and two officers on a side street before the gunman was found dead near Danforth Avenue where the shootings occurred..

A spokeswoman for the Special Investigations Unit, Monica Hudon, said an autopsy would be performed Tuesday on the suspect. “My first instinct was to try and find Jason and I saw him crouched behind the fountain and I noticed that the gunman had finished shooting there and was walking away,” he said. Though mass shootings are rare in Canada’s largest city, Toronto police had deployed dozens of additional officers over the weekend to deal with a recent rise in gun violence in the city, which has seen 23 gun homicides so far this year, compared to 16 fatal shootings in the first half of 2017. Toronto Councilor Paula Fletcher said the attack was “not gang related” and that the gunman shot “indiscriminately” into restaurants and into a park.
Police identify the gunman in a deadly shooting in Toronto, Canada. Investigators are still determining a motive. His family claims he had severe mental health problems.