Woman shot on the Mountain, makes 10 shootings in Hamilton in a month
Children were inside the home when bullets were fired, police say
A 39-year-old woman was taken to hospital overnight after yet another shooting in the city.
This makes ten shooting incidents that have happened in Hamilton in only a month — and the second violent incident at this home in just a few days.
Emergency crews rushed to a home in the area of West 5th and Mohawk round around 1 a.m.
Police say that "multiple shots were fired into the home," followed by a vehicle driving away from the scene.
Investigators say that the victim sustained non-life threatening injuries.
"Another adult and two young children were home at the time of the incident and they were not injured," a police news release reads.
Video footage shot at the scene shortly after the bullets were fired show a distressed man crying in the driveway, and a child being carried by an officer to a police cruiser.
A woman covering her face could also be seen being carried into a waiting ambulance on a stretcher.
Police dogs were brought in to search for the suspects, but they "were able to escape," police say.
Detectives say they believe that the incident was targeted — and possibly linked to another incident that happened on Sunday.
Man forced his way inside home, police say
On that evening, there was a home invasion at the exact same home, where a man forced himself inside assaulted "multiple victims" before running away.
During that incident, police say, a 39-year-old woman was taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries, and a 40-year-old man was treated for minor injuries.
Young children were present on that night too, but were not hurt, police say. In that instance as well, detectives said that they believed it was a targeted incident.
"Both investigations are ongoing and detectives are looking into the possibility that these two incidents may be connected," a police news release reads.
This most recent shooting is the latest in a string of gun violence in Hamilton in recent weeks.
There have been drive-by shootings, home invasions, and the shooting death of a high-profile mobster.
Shooting spike
Here's a list of recent shootings:
- In a shootout between two cars in Ancaster on April 16, "a quantity of shots were fired" and no one was hurt.
- Shots were fired at a home on Green Mountain Road on April 17, and again just days later.
- Notorious mobster Angelo Musitano was gunned down in his Waterdown Driveway on May 2.
- Someone fired bullets into a home in the area of Macaulay Street East and Mary Street on May 3. Another shooting incident was reported at the same home on April 17.
- A man in his 20s went to hospital after he was shot in a home invasion on Weir Street North on May 6.
- "At least one" suspect shot at a victim "a number of times," in Stinson on May 8.
- A 46-year-old man was shot during a home invasion in the east end, leaving him with life-threatening injuries.
Other than the charges laid in connection with Tuesday's shooting, police have not announced any arrests in connection with these incidents.
Police say they are investigating the frequency, location, "intelligence info" and physical evidence from all of these shootings to determine if there are any links between them.
"At this time, I don't have any information that these incidents are linked, but that may change," said Const. Steve Welton in an interview on Wednesday.
Two of them have clearer context than the rest — it's speculated that the Musitano shooting is linked to old mob connections, and the shootings on Green Mountain Road are connected to a marijuana grow op.
Welton also said that there is no immediate evidence that the shootings are linked to any sort of gang violence.
"There's no clear cut evidence that anyone involved is taking it upon themselves to associate with any [gangs] out there," Welton said, noting that gang and youth gang affiliations can shift rapidly.
"However, we're certainly aware of these types of affiliations and groups."
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