One teen arrested in non-fatal shooting near Ledbury Park
Ottawa police confirm a teenage boy has been arrested following the shooting early Wednesday of a young man near Ledbury Park in the city’s south end.
The victim was found by police on a street just off Banff Avenue, which runs north, away from the park, shortly after 1 a.m. following several 911 calls.
Paramedics said the victim’s injuries were not considered lifethreatening. He was taken to hospital.
Police said Wednesday afternoon they arrested a teenage boy at the scene and police believe he was involved in the shooting, but he is not believed to be the shooter.
The arrested youth “is in his mid-teens” and can’t be named publicly.
Others may have been involved, a police spokesman said.
Police said they didn’t know the motive for the shooting, but “it is targeted. I can confirm that,” the spokesman said.
A neighbour said the victim was outside with a group of friends at about 2 a.m. and headed back to his car parked outside the Ledbury Park pavilion.
Then another car drove up and at least two people jumped out and started shooting.
“There was no argument,” he said.
The witness believes at least five shots were fired. He said the attackers left their car behind and ran off into the trees to the south.
Another neighbour heard shooting and went upstairs to tell her son to stop playing loud video games. Then, within minutes, she saw police cars arriving and realized the shooting was real.
She stepped outside and saw the victim sitting up a little way from the parked car. About six officers were talking to him as he was put into the ambulance, she said.
Right after the shooting “it was eerily quiet,” the witness said.
Another man who lives about a block away said the neighbourhood has been mostly peaceful in his four years there. There have been a few minor fights but major trouble has been rare, he said.
As families mingled on front lawns and at the school bus stop, there was a lot of discussion of what happened — but most said they had no idea who the victim is.
While it has been quiet in recent years, the area around Banff Avenue where it meets with Ledbury Park has been a source of trouble for violence, gang activity and other illegal activities in the past.
The Ottawa Police Service Guns and Gangs Unit has taken over the case.