4 injured, no arrests in ByWard Market shooting - Action News
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Ottawa

4 injured, no arrests in ByWard Market shooting

Four men were taken to hospital after they were shot at around 1:30 a.m. Saturday, Ottawa police say. Two suffered life-threatening injuries.

Police arrived on scene around 1:30 a.m.

A police cruiser blocking off a section of a street with shops and restaurants.
Ottawa police investigate in the ByWard Market June 10, 2023 after an overnight shooting sent four people to hospital. (Emmanuelle Poisson/Radio-Canada)

Ottawa police are investigating an early morning shooting in the ByWard Market that left multiple people injured.

Police officers on foot patrol responded to a series of gunshots on Clarence Street betweenDalhousie and William streets ataround 1:30 a.m. Saturday.

When they arrived at a bar in the area, officers found four men with gunshot wounds, police said in a statement.Two were suffering from life-threatening injuries.

All four men were taken to the hospital andthere was no update on their conditions as of Monday afternoon.

Police said no arrests have been made and there are no suspects. They said they believe the shooting was a "targeted incident, in which bystanders sustained injuries as a result of the gunfire."

Police did not say how many of the shooting victims were believed to be bystanders.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the force's guns and gangs unit, or submit an anonymous tip through Crime Stoppers.

A signpost with the names of two streets in front of a brick building.
Police say they were called to a bar near Clarence and William streets at around 1:30 a.m. Saturday. (Emmanuelle Poisson/Radio-Canada)

Market 'overwhelmingly safe,' councillor says

Czarina Wilson works across the street from where the shooting took place, and said she'ssometimes afraid to leave work that early in the morning.

"I usually have people with me at all times. It's kind of something I do personally to keep myself safe," she said. "I've just heard a lot ... of stuff like this happening lately, and it's definitely scary."

ByWard Market artisan Pierre Cloutier told Radio-Canada that while security has improved,it's clearly not enough if four people still ended up being shot.

"Tourists don't like to go to places where there is violence," he said in French. "For us, it's terrible in terms of traffic."

While the violenceis concerning, it's not unique to the ByWard Market, and the tourist hotspot remains "overwhelmingly safe," said Rideau-Vanier Coun. Stphanie Plante.

"We have 50,000 unique visits to the ByWard Market each week. We have conferences, we have tournaments, we have people [going there] just to eat, who are on their way to catch public transit," Plante told Radio-Canada.

"These incidents occur around the 3 a.m. mark. And typically, I don't know about you, but I'm not in the ByWard Market at that time. I'm in bed."

Plante said the shooting would likely be discussedWednesday when city council votes on a new municipal corporation to oversee the market, as well asamong the future members of that body.

With files from Rebecca Kwan and Emmanuelle Poisson