Fatal shooting jars normally peaceful neighbourhood
SIU investigating after man, 25, dies in incident involving Ottawa police in Wellington West
Residents of Ottawa's Wellington West neighbourhood expressed shock Monday following a fatal shooting involving a police officer Sunday evening.
According to Ontario's Special Investigations Unit (SIU), which is investigating the incident, Ottawa police arrived at the Metro store on the corner of Wellington Street W. and Carleton Avenue around 6:45 p.m. Sunday after receiving reports of a man with a weapon.
The SIU said officers encountered a man in a nearby alleyway and after an "interaction," one of the officer discharged a firearm multiple times, striking the man. The 25-year-old man was rushed to hospital, where he was declared dead.
It makes you a little nervous, but this seems to have been a random thing. It could have happened anywhere, I think.- Ian Robb, Spencer Street resident
Neighbours described hearing between four and seven gunshots as well as screaming before seeing police carry the man from the alley between two homes on Western Avenue near Spencer Street, about a block away from the grocery store. They described seeing police officers perform CPR on the man in the front yard of one of those homes before paramedics arrived.
Western Avenue resident Eric Slankis, who lives just down the street from where the shooting happened, said he heard the shots, then police yell, "Hold your fire! Hold your fire!"
On Monday medical equipment was still visible at the scene.
"I was quite taken aback because I've never heard a gunshot before and certainly don't expect to hear one here," said Martha Wilson, who lives on Western Avenue, a few doors away from the scene of the shooting.
She had just taken her dog into her backyard when she heard as many as seven shots.
"It seemed like there was a group of four or five shots and then a pause and then a couple more, and a lot of yelling. A guy yelling really loudly," Wilson said, although she couldn't make out what was said. "It was disturbing."
Generally, Wilson said, the neighbourhood is "incredibly safe."
Another neighbour, Ian Robb, agreed. "In general, we don't see a lot of emergency vehicles around here unless somebody gets sick or something like that," he said.
Robb, who has lived on Spencer Street for around 40 years, said he was watching TV when he noticed several police cars lining his street. "It makes you a little nervous, but this seems to have been a random thing. It could have happened anywhere, I think."
2 injured inside store
Two people were injured in an incident inside the grocery store that preceded the shooting, according to Marc-Antoine Deschamps of the Ottawa Paramedic Service.
A 49-year-old man suffered serious stab wounds but was stabilized by paramedics before being rushed to hospital, Deschamps said. A woman in her 50s suffered minor injuries and was treated at the scene and released.
Deschamps said one of two ambulances that responded to the incident at the Metro store then proceeded to the shooting scene.
The SIU said the shooting victim's family has been notified, but isn't releasing his name at this time.
This marks Ottawa's eighth homicide of 2018.
A post-mortem is scheduled for Tuesday morning. The SIU said one subject officer and 10 witness officers have been identified.