Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe calls the shooting that killed two and injured six before a wedding in southern Ottawa Saturday night “shocking” and will increase police resources to combat gun crime. He claimed that it supports the mayor’s efforts.
“I am very concerned and frankly shocked to hear that there have been such shootings in south Ottawa,” he said in an interview Monday. “My thoughts are with everyone in the area. They must have been very upset to hear about this incident.”
Police did not release further information about the shooting on Monday, but said investigators would continue to pursue leads and encourage anyone with a lead to come forward. As of Sunday, it said no arrests had been made in the shooting outside the Infinity Convention Center on Gifford Drive in the Upland neighborhood. The murders are the 11th and 12th murders in Ottawa this year, police said. Sutcliffe said Ottawa remained a safe city and that such acts of violence were rare. According to the latest 2022 data released by Statistics Canada, Ottawa’s Crime Severity Index was the sixth lowest among Canada’s 35 metropolitan areas.
But Sutcliffe said residents have repeatedly expressed concerns about safety.
“Ottawa is a relatively safe place to live, but incidents like this are very worrying and too many, even for one,” he said. “So we have to put more resources behind this and we have to devote more of the police budget to fighting guns and gangs in our city.”
2 dead, 6 injured in shooting at Ottawa wedding reception
Ottawa police are set to give an update on the 2024 budget preparation at the next meeting of the police services board, set for Thursday. They have already released survey and consultation results that they say suggest most residents want an increased police presence in the city.
At last month’s meeting, deputy chief Steve Bell proposed creating 75 more officer positions by 2026.Gang connection still being examined
Police have not explicitly stated that there is a gang connection to the shooting, though they have not ruled it out and told CBC that “all investigative angles are being explored.”
Irvin Waller, an emeritus professor of criminology at the University of Ottawa, said the shooting on Saturday indicates that we have to “be much more concerned” about how to combat violence across the province.
“This requires action at the provincial level,” he said. “Yes, it requires action in Ottawa. There have been a consistent number of murders each year, between 10 and 20 for some time now, probably half of them related to street gangs. ”
Waller said he was particularly sad because “we know what to do” given that there are street education programs backed by research to reduce crime. Police have a role to play, he said, but it’s not the only way, or even the best way, to reduce homicides.
“We certainly haven’t done anything known to stop them,” he said. “And I think it’s time for a city that prides itself on safety, like Ottawa, and for incidents like this to really scare us. Take clear and sensible policies, based on proper diagnosis. I think the time has come.” Create a new article with this information
