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Homicide detectives are investigating after a man died and another man was injured in a shooting in western Ottawa overnight.
The shooting took place inside a townhouse in the 2200-block at Elmira Drive early Monday morning, just after 3 a.m., when a winter storm dumped sleet and snow in the neighborhood.
Ottawa police officers responding to a 911 call arrived at the scene and found a male victim dead and another man injured.
The injured man was transported to the hospital, where his life is not in danger. Both victims were shot, according to Insp. Marc-André Sheehy, a PPP officer who stood at the scene Monday during cool rain.
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Sheehy spoke to reporters as crime scene investigators, dressed from head to toe in white coat suits, walked out the front door of a nearby townhouse and crossed under crime scene tapes. Investigators believed the attack was targeted, Sheehy said, but were still looking for a suspect.
“The suspect is always at large,” he said, “but it was a targeted attack and we have no concerns for public safety.”
Monday’s killing was the 16th in the year in Ottawa and its 76th shooting episode, Sheehy said. Over the past five years, Ottawa has had an average of 74 shootings a year and has not recently seen more than 77 annual shooting incidents, as it saw in 2018, according to PPP statistics.
Sheehy said the number of shootings posed a concern for OPS.
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“It’s always a concern for the police,” he said, “and it’s something that worries the community, and we hope to have information to help resolve this as soon as possible.”
Marcus Crispin, a 21-year-old who lived near where the killing took place, arrived at the scene with a light on Monday morning. He asked Sheehy if he could place the candle over the police tape, close to the door of the townhouse, but was told that the scene could not be disturbed.
Instead, he placed it under a tree, not far from the townhouse where the killing took place, even though the rain extinguished the flame. It was a memorial service for the victim of the murder, a young man and close friend, Crispin said.
“He was like a brother to everyone,” Crispin said of the victim. “He would always raise you when you were down, and when you were not in your right state of mind, he would come straight to you and tell you ‘come on man’.”
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This newspaper is awaiting police confirmation before naming the victim.
Crispin said he and the victim, a 16-year-old, often played football together or video games late into the night.
“I was literally in a house over there with my buddy (when the killing took place),” he said, pointing to a nearby home. “I should be in the same room. I should be in the same room. I’m usually in the same room. Every night.”
Crispin said the victim and the other man injured in the shooting, as in his early 20s, lived in the townhouse where the killing took place. Crispin and others in the neighborhood said they heard news of the shooting shortly after it happened and suspected a surprise attack at night.
While reluctant to name anyone who might be suspected of the killing, Crispin said the motive for the attack was “nothing worse anyone’s life.”
“This guy was a good guy,” he said, “and he has to be shot that way? so they have a chance to fight back. “
Anyone with information was asked to call the homicide unit at 613-236-1222 ext. 5493.
with files from Megan Gillis
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