Hamilton police mum on downtown murder case investigation
At least 17 cameras trained at the spot on King Street where 19-year-old was gunned down last week
As the masked gunman hopped out of the dark car and started firing, a crooked black sign loomed over his left shoulder.
“Video Surveillance Area.”
It’s unlikely the not-yet-identified man saw — or cared — about the city sign before he unloaded multiple rounds on Alexander Circiumaru, killing the 19-year-old in a brazen daytime attack just outside a King Street office building March 6.
But eyes were in fact everywhere. The Spectator counted at least 17 surveillance cameras along the 400-metre stretch of King between James and Bay streets that Hamilton police closed to traffic in the wake of the shooting.
That includes cameras on both sides of the entrance to the Ellen Fairclough Building at 119 King, steps from where Circiumaru was shot; one on a street lamp at King and James that overlooks one-way traffic on the busy artery; two in the underground parking lot on Summers Lane; two more at the bus terminal on MacNab Street facing King; three atop the Sheraton Hotel looking down on King and toward Bay; and one each under the entrance to the Art Gallery of Hamilton and the Hamilton Convention Centre.
These don’t include the dozens of people police said were out and about during the shooting, or the several nearby establishments that were open at the time: two restaurants, a Starbucks, beauty college and popular mall.
Yet, a week later, police haven’t yet released a description of the shooting’s lone gunman or the dark Honda Civic used to flee the scene.
Investigators had no update in the homicide probe Tuesday, with Const. Indy Bharaj saying only that the “investigation is moving forward.”
“They continue to chip away at stuff, reviewing surveillance and speaking to witnesses,” he added over a phone call.
As for the surveillance being reviewed, it’s limited.
Hamilton police once had a fleet of 17 CCTV cameras located in downtown and several business areas across the city, filming the public 24 hours a day as part of a pilot to improve public safety and crime prevention.
After The Spectator reported the monitoring program had, for years, been violating provincial policy guidelines in 2013, the service continued to use the cameras but adopted new guidelines that better protected public privacy.
Today, “we no longer monitor them,” Bharaj said.
“The cameras are city-owned and we stopped monitoring them a while back.”
Bharaj said homicide investigators are now focusing on non-city cameras that offer a “vantage point” over the scene of the shooting. That includes the two cameras at the entrance of the Ellen Fairclough Building — which is run by the province and houses several government offices like ServiceOntario — as well as some at nearby businesses, the names of which Bharaj wouldn’t specify.
“We’ve looked at all the cameras that would have a direct vantage point,” Bharaj said. “Even when the (shooting) scene was just being set up, some of our officers were already pulling video from that provincial building.”
Among the cameras police once constantly surveilled were five located on King in the core, right around the area where Circiumaru was killed.
Those remain operational today, according to the city.
Along with one at the Frank A. Cooke HSR Terminal at MacNab and King, “there are several other (s) that may include a peripheral view of the King Street West roadway that are supporting other cityoperated properties,” a city spokesperson said.
As for cameras atop, say, street lamps and intersections — which could’ve captured the suspect vehicle travelling down the one-way King — the city says they don’t record and are only part of a “traffic signals environment.”
While police are no longer monitoring the city’s cameras around the clock, Bharaj said investigators can still access their footage if required.
“The investigator would just have to contact the city first,” he said.
Bharaj wouldn’t say why police aren’t reviewing more cameras downtown as part of the murder probe. He also wouldn’t disclose whether investigators have any information about the suspect or suspect vehicle, but noted detectives sometimes temporarily hold back those details for investigative reasons.
There are other pieces of Hamilton’s second homicide of the year that remain murky to the public.
For example, police previously said Circiumaru was in the area for a pre-scheduled appointment, but wouldn’t clarify the nature of that appointment. He was shot just past the Ellen Fairclough building, where police said the suspect vehicle was “already there waiting for him.” Beyond the lone gunman, it’s unclear if there were others in the car.
A makeshift vigil left under the protruding roof where Circiumaru collapsed has now been moved inside 119 King, where, through enclosed glass, a framed photo of the victim can be seen surrounded by candles, flowers, a teddy bear and messages of remembrance.
“Justice Will Be Served,” reads one in big, bolded letters.
While police are no longer monitoring the city’s cameras around the clock, Bharaj said investigators can still access their footage if required