Kitchener man charged with attempted murder makes court appearance

The Kitchener man charged with attempted murder after allegedly forcing his way into a stranger’s home and assaulting two people made a court appearance Friday.

Court documents show the man charged with two counts of attempted murder, along with an array of offences including break-and-enter and uttering death threats, is 26-year-old Devon Salmon.

Salmon made a previous court appearance on Aug. 11 in relation to his charges for aggravated assault, but since his arrest, Waterloo regional police have also charged him with attempted murder.

“When those charges were originally laid, the full extent of the incident as well as the injuries to the individuals was still undetermined, so based on the totality of the investigation, including the injuries to the victims, in consultation with the Crown attorney the decision to upgrade the aggravated assault to attempted murder charges was made,” said Waterloo Regional Police Service Const. Melissa Quarrie on Thursday.

Police say shortly after midnight on Friday Aug. 11, Salmon arrived a home in the area of Wilderness Drive and Watercress Court, knocked on the door and demanded to be let inside.

Wilderness Drive in Kitchener on Aug. 12, 2023. (Hannah Schmidt/CTV Kitchener)

When the homeowners refused, he forced his way into the home and assaulted them.

A 56-year-old woman and 33-year-old man suffered serious injuries and were taken to hospital.

Court heard both victims suffered blunt force trauma, and the woman was also strangled.

Police say the two victims have been released from hospital and are expected to recover from their injuries.

“I do want to stress that this is a random occurrence, it's not a frequent occurrence in our community, so I think that's why it sort of hits home so hard,” Quarrie said. “We don't often hear about these types of crimes in our community.”