Brandon police investigate shots fired at Russell Street home

Brandon police are investigating after a vacant house was shot at several times on Monday, marking the fourth shooting in the western Manitoba city in recent weeks.

Brandon police officersbelievethe latest shooting, which was reported early Monday morning, is related to similar incidents in late September.

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The police service received several calls about shots heard on Russell Street around 4:30 a.m. Monday.

Officers initially couldn't find any suspects or damage in the area, but later that morning the owner of a house in the 300 block of Russell Street called to report some damage to the home caused by bullets, police said.

That report was confirmed by investigators withthe force's criminal investigations unit and forensic identification unit, who found "several bullet holes" in the home.

A Brandon police spokesperson could not specify how many times the house was shot at.

"The investigation is ongoing and officers believe this incident is related to other recent firearm calls in the area," the police service said in a news release Tuesday.

"The residence, which was vacant at the time, appears to have been targeted and this was not a random occurrence."

The Russell Street shooting is in the same vicinity as a shooting on Sept. 25 in which a house on Lorne Avenue E. was shot at roughly 30 times, and another shooting the day before that injured a man in the 300 block of 10th Street.

The Lorne Avenue E. incident was on the same day as a home invasion on Park Street. Two men were arrested in connection with the Sept. 25 incidents, while aman was arrested in connection with the Sept. 24 shooting.

Brandon police are still looking for a suspect in connection with a shooting on Sept. 17, in which a rifle was fired inside a house.