In Waterloo Region, the past two months have been rife with high-profile crimes – many of which have yet to result in any arrests or charges.
Those crimes include the homicide of Michael Gibbon, at least three pellet gun shootings, and several armed robberies at convenience stores.
Gibbon, 60, died after being found with an arrow wound to his chest on the front lawn of a home on Margaret Avenue last week.
He had no connection to that property, and police have yet to determine where the arrow came from or for what purpose.
While no suspects have been identified, police say they have pinpointed several persons of interest – including 29-year-old Eric Amaral, who was arrested Tuesday after shooting a police officer with a pellet gun.
About 15 investigators are looking into the case, Waterloo Regional Police Staff Sgt. Michael Haffner said Wednesday.
“We’re still appealing to the public for any information relating to the homicide," he said.
People living around the Margaret Avenue and Union Street area say the lack of any arrests or answers in Gibbon’s death has them feeling uneasy.
“We’re keeping our eye out for anything out of the ordinary (and) anyone that we don’t usually see hanging out in the neighbourhood,” said Dan Haner.
That neighbourhood isn’t far from the area of Union and Moore Avenue, where James Clark was hit by a pellet while driving on Aug. 18.
Although he was hit in the head with the projectile, he was not injured.
In early September, two students were hit with pellets or BBs while walking on King Street in Waterloo’s university district.
One received serious eye injuries, while the other was shot in the collarbone area.
Over the following few days, two other people reported hearing or seeing what may have been pellet or BB firings in the same neighbourhood.
No evidence was ever found to prove that anything had been fired, and no arrests were ever made in the two shootings that left students injured.
Ten convenience store robberies were also reported in Kitchener over the course of September, with three more reported through the first two weeks of October.
The robberies are not all believed to be connected, as methods and suspect descriptions vary from case to case.
An arrest warrant was issued for one man in connection with one of the robberies, as well as a bank robbery.
Police are also searching for one of four people accused of robbing the McDonald’s restaurant near Conestoga College in mid-September.
Three other people were arrested in connection with that incident.