Shocked ByWard Market businesses say it’s safe

Businesses in the ByWard Market say they aren’t all that worried about violence spilling into their establishments, despite an early morning shooting at Sentral nightclub.

Alex Hay, the assistant general manager of the Heart & Crown at Clarence Street and Parent Avenue, said his bar hasn’t seen a rise in violence and is generally trouble-free.

Hay said on his way home from working Sunday morning he saw a number of police cruisers around Sentral nightclub, but didn’t know at the time what had happened.

Another local business owner, close to where the shooting occurred, said his clientele have enjoyed the safe environment at his establishment all summer.

He acknowledged there have been problems at Sentral before. “There are fights (outside the club) every weekend — constant fights and confrontation,” he said.

Kyle O’Brien, a manager at Ace Mercado, located across the street from the Sentral nightclub at the corner of Clarence and Dalhousie streets, said while it was shocking to hear about the shooting nearby he felt it was an isolated event.

O’Brien said he isn’t worried about the weekend violence affecting business.

“I haven’t noticed anything over there in the last little while — so it was pretty shocking,” he said.

His restaurant usually closes around 2 a.m., but last night the employees got out a bit early because it was slower and missed the incident, O’Brien said.

Randy Granados, 24, who works at the Lookout Bar, was on his way home around 3:30 a.m. and said he saw about six police cruisers near his apartment atop a store near Sentral. He said he was shocked when he learned of the shooting.

“That’s super terrifying,” he said. “I’ve seen knife fights outside (before).”

Rideau-Vanier Coun. Mathieu Fleury said the city is “concerned” following the shooting.

“When you walk into the Market and realize that some of these streets are closed — it does impact on the neighbourhood and on businesses,” he said in a statement.

Sunday’s homicide, like other incidents in the area, appears to have been targeted, Fleury said.

“(The homicide) doesn’t impact what I believe to be the general safety of the public,” he said. “If you’re going into the (Byward) Market to buy drugs, yeah, you should watch yourself.

“But if you’re going in to enjoy yourself, to have a coffee, to help support our local businesses, I don’t think that there will be issues.”

Fleury said he encourages the public to continue to visit nearby businesses and added that the homicide will be discussed at a meeting he’ll attend Monday with the ByWard Market Business Improvement Area and local merchants.