Turn yourselves in, says NRP
Police still trying to identify suspects in Thursday’s triple shooting
Niagara Regional Police continued the manhunt Friday for two suspects in Thursday’s triple shooting in downtown St. Catharines, and publicly asked the pair to turn themselves in.
NRP spokesman Const. Phil Gavin said the two suspects appear to have come from outside Niagara, although he said detectives have not determined their city of origin. He also said there is a connection between the victims and the suspects, who police say are armed and dangerous, but said he could not speculate what those ties are.
“There is a piece there, a connection, that our detectives are looking into,” said Gavin. “Not to minimize at all what happened, but we want the public to know this was a targeted incident.”
In a brief press conference at NRP headquarters in Niagara Falls Friday afternoon, Gavin provided a short update on the investigation.
In addition to asking the suspects to surrender peacefully, Gavin also asked businesses and residents in the area of Niagara and Church streets who may have security cameras to check their footage and contact police.
Shortly before 4 p.m. Thursday people in the area of Niagara and Church streets heard shouting. When they turned toward
the commotion, they saw a man stagger into the intersection and fall down.
Gavin said Friday that the man, along with two others, were shot in a residence near the intersection.
The man who fell in the street was found by police and paramedics moments later. Gavin said the other two injured men were found inside.
One of the men was in critical condition while another had life-threatening injuries. They were flown by air ambulance to a Hamilton hospital. The third man was treated for non-life threatening injuries at the St. Catharines hospital.
Gavin said their conditions remained unchanged Friday and he could not say the degree to which they are cooperating with investigators.
Although police believe there is a connection between the victims and the suspects, Gavin said he could not speculate if the wounded men are under investigation.
“At this point the victims are the victims and the suspects are the suspects,” he said.
In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, two men ran east from the area toward Calvin and Division streets. Gavin said police had information that the suspects may have had contact with, or even may have been inside, a nearby apartment building across the street from St. Barnabas Anglican Church on Queenston Street.
The NRP emergency task unit took positions in the church parking lot with their weapons trained on the apartment complex.
Gavin said because the last known contact anyone had with the suspects were the shooting victims, police were not taking any chances and had to assume armed men were inside the building. The suspects were not found inside and their whereabouts remain unknown.
Gavin said the initial police deployment into the Niagara and Church street area was part of a process he called “front-loading” an investigation to quickly gather information and protect the public during a rapidly evolving situation.
“We don’t want chaos on the streets,” Gavin said.
One of the suspects is reported by police to be a black man in his early 20s, stands 5-foot-11, and has short hair, earrings, slim build and wore a black shirt with white writing on front, black shorts to above knee with white on sides. The second suspect is also black in his early 20s, standing 6-foot-3 with a muscular build, dreadlocks in ponytail tucked up inside black hat, black shirt, grey track pants.
Police say both suspects are considered armed and should not be approached. If located, residents are asked to call 911.