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TORONTO - The shooting deaths of three men found sitting in a SUV in the city's west end was probably gang related, police said Sunday.

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THE CANADIAN PRESS/ HO

A handout photo of shooting victim Aaron MacDonald, 20. Bullets sprayed a Gold SUV early Sunday morning, killing three young male passengers inside, Toronto police said, Sunday July 20, 2008. The vehicle was found in Toronto's west end, but police said it is likely the shooting took place in another area.

And it's likely the victims were gunned down somewhere else in the city and were driven to the area.

Police are looking for the driver of the bullet-ridden gold Nissan Pathfinder which was found in a residential area that rarely experiences this kind of violence.

The victims identified as Adrian Bannerman, 29, Aaron MacDonald, 20, and Kurt Charles, 27, all of Toronto, were pronounced dead at the scene early Sunday morning.

Police also said that the men had been in a nightclub earlier in the evening.

The shootings take the city's murder toll this year to 35, six of which happened in the past week.

Forty-one people were murdered at the same time last year.

"At this point we aren't certain that the shooting took place where the vehicle was located so we're making efforts to locate a shooting scene elsewhere," said Toronto police Homicide Squad Det. Dean Burks as he spoke outside the cordoned-off street in the quiet, residential neighbourhood.

A 911 call was made around 3:40 a.m. telling police that three people were dead inside the vehicle, one passenger in the front seat and two in the back seat.

Burks said the shooting happened from outside the car and a number of bullet holes pierced the vehicle.

In a release, police said the shooting appears to be gang-related.

There were no eyewitnesses and no one in the neighbourhood heard shots fired.

The driver left the scene of the shooting and police were looking for this person.

"We have information that there was another person in the vehicle and we're making efforts to locate that individual," said Burks.

Police were interviewing people Sunday and appealed to anyone who heard gunshots in the neighbourhood or noticed any suspicious activity to call authorities immediately.