One dead after gunman opens fire on apartment in horrifying drive-by shooting

A horrifying drive-by attack on an apartment in Montreal has killed one and left four injured, police have said.

Local media reports that Const. VÃ©ronique Comtois, a spokesperson for the city's police service, said the victims were all shot in one apartment building in the RiviÃ¨re-des-Prairies neighbourhood at about 7pm.

Officers said it appeared the shots had come from a car and that all the people who had been shot were in the same apartment.

She said several people dialled 911 to report the shooting when it unfolded.

It is not yet confirmed what condition the injured people are in. Local reports say that one person has died with a number of victims in 'critical condition.'

Montreal Police say at least five people were injured

Emergency services remain at the scene and the area around the alleged shooting site has been cordoned off by officers.

Police are asking people to avoid the area while investigations are ongoing.

Mass shootings are relatively rare in Canada, which has tighter gun control laws than in the neighbouring United States.

In April last year a gunman shot and killed at least 16 people during a 12-hour rampage, the worst act of mass murder the country had ever seen.

It was the worst shooting of its kind since a gunman killed 15 women in Montreal in December 1989.

In another act of mass killing a man driving a van deliberately ran over and killed 10 people in Toronto in April 2018.

According to official figures there has been an 81 per cent increase in violent crime involving guns since 2009 in the country.

One in every three homicide is related to firearms and the government of Canada says that 47 per cent of Canadians feel gun violence is a threat to their community.