WRPS warn gun violence on the rise in Waterloo Region

The Region of Waterloo has already matched the total number of shootings in all of 2023 – and it’s only September.

The Waterloo Regional Police Service said they’ve responded to 18 shootings in the community this year.

The latest happened in Cambridge over the weekend. Officers were called to Elgin Street North and Northview Heights Drive, where they found a 19-year-old man with a non-life-threatening gunshot wound to his leg.

“We do believe that this is a targeted incident,” Const. Chris Iden said.

An area resident, who did not want to be identified for their own safety, told CTV News it happened at a nearby townhome complex.

“I was in my living room and didn’t see anything, then saw the flashing [police] lights,” they said. “It makes people very apprehensive. Very nervous.”

This is the second shooting in the area within the past 18 months.

In February 2023, police responded to a shooting at the complex. No one was hurt but at least one vehicle and the front door of a home were hit with bullets.

Police have yet to identify a suspect in either investigation.

“There has been no updates but we do believe [last year’s shooting] is not connected to this incident,” Iden said.

Only nine shootings were reported in the first nine months of 2023, half of what has already been reported this year.

“It is an alarming trend,” Chris Lewis, the former Ontario Provincial Police commissioner, said. “Is it here to stay? We don’t know at this point.”

He attributes much of the increase to gang activity.

“A lot of them are young people that seem disenfranchised or, for whatever reason, have turned to that life of crime,” Lewis added.

He feels stronger gun control will result in better short-term solutions.

WRPS, meanwhile, said they’re taking the increase in shootings seriously.

“This is not something that Waterloo Region is known for,” Iden explained. “When we are having an increase in gun violence it’s absolutely going to be a concern for our community.”

Police say the investigation into Saturday’s shooting is ongoing and there is no concern to public safety.