29 shootings so far this year in Hamilton outpace 2016 total

There have been 29 shootings so far this year in Hamilton, outpacing the 22 shootings in the city in all of 2016.

Five of those shootings happened in the last severaldays:

• One person was shot in the lower bodyaroundmidnight Thursday in the east end.
• An unoccupied vehicle was shot at several times Friday morning on Upper Wellington Street.
• Two 17-year-olds were shot four times each early Sunday morning within six minutes of each other, 10 blocks away from each other on the Mountain.
• And police are looking for 2 men who might have fled in a car that looked like ared Toyota Yaris withbullet holes and a flat tireafter a shooting downtown early Tuesday morning.

Police say all the shootings so far in 2017 have been "targeted," meaning that the victim and the shooter know each other or have some kind of connection.

They also believe many of them are tied to drugs, though many of the shootings are still under investigation.

"We recognize the impact that a shooting has on our community," said Hamilton police spokesman Jerome Stewart.

"As a community, we need to work together," he added. "We believe there are people out there who have information about what has happened over the last few days."

Stewart asked anyone who knows anything to give police a call or get in touch with Crime Stoppers.