No arrests in shooting that killed two, injured six in Ottawa, Canada

Two individuals were killed and six other people were wounded during a tragic shooting in the parking lot of a reception venue in Canada’s capital city of Ottawa, police reported. 

The identities of the victims were released by authorities in an attempt to understand the crime and why the two slain individuals might have been targeted by their murderers. 

Photo Credit: Twitter @OttawaPolice

Twenty-six-year-old Said Mohamed Ali and twenty-nine-year-old Abdishakur Abdi-Dahir—both of whom were living in Toronto— were identified as victims of the shooting police have yet to establish a motive. 

The police report from Ottawa authorities noted that there was no indication the incident was a “hate-motivated incident” adding no arrests had been made in the shooting case. 

Police and other first responders quickly made their way to the scene of the incident after it was reported shots had been fired at 2900 Block of Gibford Dr. at roughly 10:21 pm. 

Photo Credit: Twitter @OttawaPolice

“This violence is tragic and unacceptable. It is disturbing for our entire community,” the police report read. However, more details were given by those allegedly at the scene. 

The Associated Free Press spoke with one guest who was picking up a friend from one of the weddings at the time of the shooting and they explained the chaos that unfolded. 

Photo Credit: Twitter @OttawaPolice

"It was chaos, there was no general direction of where people were running, it was just everywhere," said Nico, who declined to give his surname to the Associated Free Press. 

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"It was rapid shots,” and then there was screaming, and then there was a pause,” Nico said, “and then there were more shots, probably like 15-16 more shots that I can recall."

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The Ottawa Police Unit has appealed for local businesses and homeowners to provide any video surveillance they may have of the shooting that occurred on Gibford Drive. 

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"We are in the process of connecting the pieces of the puzzle," Ottawa Police Inspector Martin Groulx told the Associated Free Press. As of Tuesday, there were still no arrests. 

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This type of gun violence in Canada isn’t the norm for the country but crimes involving firearms have been on the rise and data from Statistics Canada backs up the claim. 

In 2018, only 253 homicides in Canada were shooting-related but that number has risen ever since to reach 343 in 2022 according to the federal government’s statistics agency. 

The most recent slain men in Ottawa bring the city's shooting death total up to twelve for the year according to CBS News, which is still quite low for a city of one million people. 

Photo Credit: Twitter @OttawaPolice

Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe called the shooting “shocking” and has already taken steps to devote more of the city’s resources to combating gun crime according to CBC News. 

"It's very concerning, and it's frankly shocking, when you hear about a shooting of this nature happening in the south end of Ottawa," Sutcliffe said on September 4th. 

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“My thoughts are with all the residents in that area. It must have been very, very disturbing to them to hear about this event,” Sutcliffe continued, adding that Ottawa was still, “a very, very safe place to live” relatively speaking. 

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