A daylight shooting in a St. Catharines neighbourhood has sent three people to hospital and police say two suspects are still at large.
Niagara Regional Police said officers were called to the Church and Niagara streets area at around 3:45 p.m. for reports of a shooting and arrived to find multiple victims.
Police said they were able to get to the wounded “relatively quickly,” about five minutes after they received the call.
Two of the three victims were found in critical condition and rushed to a Toronto-area trauma centre via air ambulance, media relations officer Const. Phil Gavin said.
The third victim suffered non-life-threatening injuries and is receiving treatment at a local hospital.
Witness reports indicate that at least one victim was shot multiple times.
Police say multiple people were seen running from the area after the gunfire erupted.
Currently, officers are searching for two black male suspects who are both believed to be between 19 and 23 years old.
One of the suspects was last seen wearing a dark hoodie and jeans. A clothing description for the second suspect was not provided.
“We recognize that’s not the best description but it’s something we’re working with at this point. We certainly hope to expand on that in the hours to come,” Gavin said at a news conference Thursday evening.
“Multiple shooting of three people in the city is not something that happens, thankfully, very often. It’s got our attention. We’re going to work this case and we’re going to try to bring in the people responsible for this.”
When asked whether he thought the shooting was targeted, Gavin said it is too early to say.
He went on to clarify that while police are searching for “armed suspects” in an “ongoing investigation,” they are not treating it as an active shooter situation.
The incident has spread police resources across multiple scenes, including one in the Queenston and Geneva streets area, which police are asking the public to avoid.
Gavin said much of the resources available to the police service have been called in to assist with the search and investigation, including an emergency task force unit, K9 unit and detectives.
At this point, officers are canvassing the area and checking on a number of residences in the area. Gavin said the neighbourhood is a mix of residential and commercial building with a “pretty dense population.”
He said he anticipates the search of properties to be a “slow, methodical process” and encouraged anyone in the area who may have surveillance cameras installed to check their footage.
