OTTAWA, Dec. 27 (Xinhuanet) -- About 10 to 15 young people were involved in a wild shooting spree that killed a teenage girl and injured six others in a packed downtown area of Toronto, Canada's largest city, police said on Tuesday.

    At a morning press conference, Toronto police detective Savas Kyriacou confirmed that two men were held shortly after the shooting at the city's Castle Frank subway station.

    "Those two people are being investigated at this point," Kyriacou said. "We are still trying to determine what, if any, role they played in this incident. Charges have not been laid as yet."

    One handgun was seized from one of the people arrested, he said.

    The shooting happened just before dinnertime on Monday as shoppers crowded the sidewalks of Yonge Street, just north of the tourist-heavy Eaton Center shopping mall.

    A 15-year-old girl, whose name has not yet been released, was shopping with her family when she was hit by a bullet. She was declared dead in hospital later. Six others were injured, including an off-duty police officer.

    Police said they believe the gunfire broke out between two groups and involved 10 to 15 people in their late teens to early twenties.

    News of the shooting shocked Toronto which witnessed a record of 52 gun-related deaths in 2005 only.

    Mayor David Miller said in a statement he was "saddened and angered that such a brazen act of senseless violence would be perpetrated on Toronto's main street on Boxing Day."

    Leaders from the city's youth organizations are expressing their outrage over the shooting and calling on their peers to do their part to stop the violence.

    "Youth need to be empowered, the community needs to take actionand we need to stand together if we want to see the violence end,"Kofi Hope, president of the Black Youth Coalition Against Violence,said in a written statement. "It can't only be politicians who speak, youth voices must be heard too."

    "Youth need to stand up and take responsibility for communicating a message of anti-violence to those youth who are in trouble," said Saeed Selvam, director of Youth-Police Relations for the Toronto Youth Cabinet.

    "Shootings are happening where we live, work, play and go to school - a rock hard action plan needs to be set out if we want tocontrol violence and help youth at risk."

    Gun violence in Toronto has also become an issue in the on-going federal election campaign.

    In early December, Prime Minister Paul Martin chose Toronto to announce plans to introduce a law that would virtually ban handgun ownership across Canada, and double minimum prison sentences for some offences.

    On Tuesday, Conservative Leader Stephen Harper addressed the shootings during a stop in Calgary.

    Harper said Martin's call for a ban on handguns was not the answer, and that the government should be enforcing laws already on the books. Enditem