Police say shootings 'have all been targeted' in violent start to year

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Ottawa police say they are “confident” in their investigations into a recent spate of shootings across the city, while saying they are actively working to curb the flow of illegal guns on the streets.

In a letter to Ottawa Police Services Board, posted Monday on Mayor Jim Watson’s website, police deputy chief Steve Bell explains the force is “actively investigating” 11 shootings since Jan. 1, involving six victims and two deaths.

Bell said police are “following up on all investigative leads so that those responsible will be held accountable.”

Tarek Dakhil, 23 was killed by gunfire on Paul Anka Drive on Jan. 9 in the city’s first homicide of 2018. Adam Perron, 22, was shot and killed in a McLeod Street apartment on Jan. 18. Homicide detectives continue to investigate both killings, and no arrests have been made.

Gunfire has so far erupted in neighbourhoods like Mechanicsville, Centretown, St. Laurent and Heron Gate, where a mid-day shooting Jan. 16 sent two young men to hospital.

Bell said investigators are finding motives are consistent with trends in Ottawa and other cities.

“The evidence so far links these shootings to a small number of criminals, often involved in drug trafficking and other serious criminal offences, who are using the weapons for protection, retribution and to intimidate their competitors,” Bell said.

The gunplay also appears to be moving into other neighbourhoods unaccustomed to gun violence.

That includes shootings in Bells Corners, which saw a Jan. 13 incident on Priam Way and an early morning drive-by shooting on Sunday near Hammill Court – just steps from the scene of an unrelated homicide last week, when 17-year-old Nick Hickey was struck by a car and killed.

Local councillor Rick Chiarelli met with MPP Lisa MacLeod recently to discuss strategies, including increased police patrols and a neighbourhood watch presence for the community.

“We believe the shootings have all been targeted and the intended targets are usually uncooperative with our investigators,” Bell said. “While that hampers investigations, we have other investigative methods available to us.”

Bell said police continue to speak to those in affected communities about the importance of witnesses coming forward to assist with investigations, saying, “The public play an important part in addressing this.”

Bell also said police are working with provincial partners to curb access to illegal guns.

“The guns that we are finding are usually either imported from the United States or acquired through break and enters locally. We actively target both sources of guns,” Bell said, adding police are working with OPP, RCMP and the Canadian Border Services Agency on joint enforcement efforts and information sharing.

Bell, who said the primary role of police lies in enforcement, also highlighted the recent Project Sabotage operation, which netted 14 arrests and took 24 illegal guns off the streets.

Bell said police continue to work with partners like the John Howard Society, Crime Prevention Ottawa and the local school boards on “longer-term solutions” related to early intervention.

“Prevention and intervention activities with our community partners is the longer-term solution to this problem and one that will take work from many different groups,” Bell said.

ahelmer@postmedia.com
Twitter.com/helmera

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