Waterloo Regional Police are on the hunt for one or more gunmen after a Kitchener neighbourhood was awoken by the sounds of multiple gun shots Saturday morning.
Police say they received calls from a number of people that heard the shots around 4:50am.The shooting took place on Wellington Street, between King Street and Moore Avenue in Kitchener.
When patrol units arrived they found three adult men with gunshot wounds. Neighbours say it appears they were all shot in the legs. Within 45 minutes of the gunshots, the men were taken to Grand River Hospital. The men required surgery but their injuries are not considered life threatening.
Forensic teams and K-9 units focused their attention on evidence around the dumpster of a neighbourhood mechanic.
It was a startling start to the long weekend for Mat Ertan of Mat’s Auto. He says a police officer had taped off his entire shop as a police scene before he arrived at 6am.
“I wait there for half an hour. He says you can go in the building but don’t come out.”
Waterloo Regional Police North Division Detectives, Forensic Identification, K9 and Emergency Response officers remained on the scene for most of the day.
Neighbourhood resident Ginette Ethier says she heard four shots. There was one initially followed by three rounds in quick succession. When she looked outside, she saw three men lying in the middle of the street.
“I heard ‘call the cops’, ‘call the cops’, call the cops’. Only one was moving, really moving, that could get up”, says Ethier.
By mid morning a torn t-shirt and a hat belonging to the victims remained as evidence.
Police won’t say if the three victims knew the shooter, or if there was more than one gunman, but authorities do believe the victims were targeted.
“I don’t believe this is a random act in any way, shape or form. I believe it’s probably a targeted act”, says Superintendent Robert Gould of the Waterloo Regional Police Service.
So far, the firearm and whoever pulled the trigger are both at large. Police say they’ll get a better sense of their investigation after interviewing the victims, who continue to recover in hospital.
