Homicides are up in Ottawa, shootings are down: OPS

After a slew of recent violent crimes in Ottawa, local residents and police officials are raising alarms.

There have been 20 homicides and 40 shootings in 2024 so far, according to OPS

Emma Weller · CBC News · Posted: Sep 24, 2024 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: September 24

An Ottawa police cruiser parked at a crime scene. — In nearly 10 days, there has been three homicides in Ottawa. (Michel Aspirot/CBC)

Fatal violent crimes are up in Ottawa, while the city's police chief is reporting a reduction in shootings.

In about 10 days, there have been three shootings, two of which were fatal. There have also been at least four stabbings, one of which was fatal.

"Having three homicides in give or take a week is very rare for this community," said Ottawa police Chief Eric Stubbs. "It's not something that we see very often."

"The violence is senseless," he added.

According to Stubbs, there have already been 20 homicides in 2024. That includes the six victims in a mass killing in Barrhaven in March.

Last year there were 15 homicides, according to Ottawa police. The number of homicides has ranged from 13 to 17 per year since 2018, with the exception of nine in 2020.

Stubbs said shootings are nearly 25 per cent lower than this time last year and since January, OPS has seized 84 "crime guns."

"The use of firearms in these urban areas is very concerning simply because you don't know where these bullets are going to go and where they'll hit," said Ottawa police Supt. Jamie Dunlop.

The firearms are difficult to trace, Dunlop said in an interview with CBC Radio's Ottawa Morning, as they are typically smuggled into the country.

He added that the recent homicides are unrelated and all investigations are ongoing.

Reducing street crime

Irvin Waller, emeritus criminology professor at the University of Ottawa, believes more needs to be done to prevent violent crime.

"We're just simply watching the crime rate go up," Waller said.

He wants to see more preventative work, more investment into street outreach, and programming that helps young men who are more likely to engage in violence get more educational opportunities and learn to regulate their emotions.

These interventions are not up to police, he said — they're a city issue.

"I think this is really disturbing to have exceeded the last two years' rates of homicide in September," Waller said. "[It] should really be getting city council to rethink what they're doing."

Other levels of government need to step in to help provide social and educational supports, he said.