Two more shootings reported during record-breaking year in Hamilton

In an already record-breaking year, rates of gun violence continue to climb ever higher in Hamilton with two more shootings reported.

Hamilton Police reported the city’s 55th and 56th shootings on Oct. 25, both of which happened the day before.

The Shooting Response Unit discovered evidence of gunfire while investigating an unrelated incident on the Bruce Trail in Dundas, near Old Guelph Rd. and Highway 6.

Around 8 p.m. a man fired into an apartment and business plaza at 288 Grays Road on the border of Stoney Creek. A tenant in the apartments on the second level called 911 after came home to discover a bullet hole in his window frame. The shot entered the apartment and damaged the man’s TV. The investigation also led to a neighbouring apartment.

Both incidents remain under investigation.

The latest shootings add to a year of record violence in the city. Hamilton Police have described the jump as a “surge” in violence. Recently, the service launched the Hamilton Police Shooting Response Team as a pilot project to investigate non-fatal shootings.

The team was later made a permanent part of the service in March they arrested 30 people on nearly 200 charges. As a pilot they arrested 10 suspects on 98 charges. The team is a response to growing rates of gunfire in the city.

The annual amounts over the last five years break down as follows:

• 2020 – 51 shootings
• 2021 – 39 shootings
• 2022 – 45 shootings
• 2023 – 35 shootings (21 investigated by Shooting Response Team)
• 2024 – 56 (as of Oct. 25)

Of the 2024 cases, 50 remain under investigation including the two reported today.

A recent surge in gun violence led to five arrests earlier this week including two teenagers.