SAFETY CONCERNS

Conditions were ripe for a shooting, writes Luisa D’Amato

Peter and Heather Mills knew someone would get killed, sooner or later.

That’s how high the level of crime and violence is where they live, near King Street East in downtown Kitchener.

Some of what they witness is just disgusting, like the two young men who got out of a car and urinated on the tree in their front yard the other night.

Some of it is blood-curdling, like when they heard the gunshots Thursday morning that killed 20-year-old Isaiah Macnab on the corner of King Street East and Pandora Avenue.

Half a block away and across a busy street, the bangs were still loud enough to capture Heather’s attention right away.

“I said, if it was gunshots, we’d hear sirens.” And as soon as the words were out of her mouth, they heard the high whine of approaching emergency vehicles.

Macnab had been a resident in a halfway house and rehabilitation centre run by the Salvation Army.

He was outside in the yard when the shots were fired. A white Mercedes with two people inside drove away and got onto Highway 401. Police chased it, but lost it. It was last seen in Mississauga.

Many people were shocked to hear about something like this happening in Kitchener, on a weekday morning.

But Heather and Peter just shrug.

They’ve seen this coming for a long time.

They’ve seen drug deals transacted and young girls — prostitutes, they assume — having sex with old men on the sidewalk in front of their home, not even seeking the cover of a car. They routinely find broken glass in their driveway, and needles everywhere. There are often fights on the street.

“We said, ‘Somebody’s going to get killed,’” Peter said.

The couple have talked to police and elected representatives, but “it’s fallen on deaf ears for so long,” Heather said.

There have been community meetings, which the Mills think have been of limited value.

Their city councillor, Sarah Marsh, said finding solutions is “neither simple nor straightforward.”

“A fair bit of success” was achieved after putting pressure on the owner of the most problematic properties. Police presence and bylaw enforcement was stepped up and the properties sold. But she knows there is more to do.

Mayor Berry Vrbanovic said that with the opioid addiction crisis becoming ever more intense, “we need to spend some additional dollars on policing, going forward.”

The Mills say their neighbourhood has lots of social service agencies such as the halfway house, and Ray of Hope, which provides free meals. There are plenty of boarding houses and homeless shelters nearby. Some of these places are well managed, some aren’t. They all draw people who are desperately poor, deeply troubled and highly stressed.

Meanwhile, Waterloo Regional Police continue to investigate the death.

They say the shooting was targeted and there is no concern for community safety.

But the last part of that sentence isn’t really true.

This community has been crying out with its safety concerns for a long time.