Police have gun from downtown shooting
The chair of the Niagara police services board has joined with the chief in pleading with St. Catharines residents for help solve a pair of brazen shootings downtown last month.
“It’s time for the community to step up,” chair Bob Gale said. “Somebody out there knows something. We make considerable community policing efforts to get the officers out of their cruisers and walking and talking with the community members, but if we can’t have the community support us on something like this, you start to wonder what’s the point.
“I know they might be scared to tell us, or give us some leads, but there are ways to get us the information without leaving your name.”
In the most recent incident, police rushed to the scene of a shooting in the area of St. Paul and Queen streets on Sept. 23 at about 1:40 a.m., where a 24-yearold man was found with lifethreatening injuries. The downtown core was packed that night with revellers from the Niagara Grape and Wine Festival as well as the Brock University homecoming hockey game out and about.
Police recently released video footage showing four “persons of interest” walking on St. Paul Street about the same time.
The gunman was described as black, wearing a dark blue hooded athletic tracksuit with a solid white stripe down the side of his jacket and pants.
On Sept. 6, police responded to shots fired at Church and Niagara streets that sent three people to hospital. That shooting is believed to have taken place inside a residence on Church Street, near the intersection at Niagara Street. Investigators believe it was a targeted shooting.
Portions of Geneva, Queenston and Church streets were closed for much of the evening. The tenants were let back into their homes at 11:15 p.m. No arrests have been made in this case either.
“What I want to reiterate to the community is that these are isolated incidents, and at this point do not appear to be connected in any way,” said Niagara Regional Police Chief Bryan MacCulloch.
He said closed-circuit cameras
downtown have aided in the investigation. There are good images in the shooting on Sept. 23.
The cameras caught one of the persons of interest dump a gun.
“There was a firearm discarded in the downtown area, which we have recovered,” MacCulloch said. “The firearm used in the incident is no longer on the street as a result.”
There are 26 cameras in the downtown area. The feed goes into the NRPs real-time operation centre.
“We can’t actively monitor those cameras because of privacy legislation, but we can use them as an investigative tool,” MacCulloch said.
Gale said the evidence gathered is an excellent example of the value of the cameras. No other community in Niagara has them.
“I understand about privacy concerns, but I also know it will help us solve some of these things,” Gale said. “The cc cameras have helped us solve a lot of crimes in downtown St. Catharines.
“When we have visitors in the tourist areas like Niagara Falls and Niagara-on-the-Lake, they expect to be protected.
“Right now, we are relying on business owners with private cameras to see what has happened. I think it’s time to take a look at them.”
MacCulloch said the NRP is willing to work with any community that shows an interest in acquiring them.