Chief says Durham police ‘committed’ to tackling gun crime after shots fired outside three homes

Durham police respond after multiple shots were fired in the area of Baldwin Street and Robert Attersley Drive in Whitby Thursday December 19, 2024.

Durham Regional Police Chief Peter Moreira is speaking out after shots were fired outside two homes in the region for the second time in as many days.

“Unfortunately we saw even more gun violence in @RegionofDurham last night. About 20 casings have been found near a home in Whitby,” Moreira said on X.

It happened in the Haverhill Drive area, in the vicinity of Baldwin Street and Robert Attersley Drive, at around 1:20 a.m.

Durham police released an audio recording of the gunfire piercing the quiet of the night. They said they were called to the area after the shots were heard.

“Officers arrived on scene and located a number of shell casings in the area. Two different types of shell casings were located, leading us to believe to that at least two types of firearms were used,” police said in a post on X.

Two homes were located with bullet holes, according to officers. They say there were people inside both houses at the time of the shooting, but no one was injured.

The incident comes just a day after 14 shots were fired at a housing complex in Oshawa.

An Oshawa mom told CP24 that she discovered bullet holes in in her daughter’s dresser and in the ceiling of her living room after gunfire erupted at a housing complex in the area of Mary Street North and Taunton Road shortly after 2 a.m. Wednesday.

Moreira said that families were home and asleep while “coward(s) fired indiscriminately,” in the area.

He said Thursday that police are “committed” to fighting gun crime and taking illegal guns off the streets.

“We are committed to dedicating more resources to preventing and investigating gun related crimes,” he wrote in his latest post. “Each illegal gun we take off the streets prevents untold numbers of shootings and victimization.”

He said police are urging anyone who has dashcam footage from the area at the time to reach out to investigators or to call Crime Stoppers anonymously.

He also urged anyone who knows where illegal guns are located to call police or Crime Stoppers.

With files from Codi Wilson