Hamilton homicide: what residents heard
'Bang, bang, bang,' heard neighbours after Monday's shooting
By Julia Chapman, CBC News
Posted: May 21, 2012 8:56 PM ET
Last Updated: May 22, 2012 4:12 PM ET
Police speak to witnesses after a double shooting in the Barton Street and Sanford Avenue area Monday evening. (Julia Chapman/CBC)
Police have identified 23-year-old James Bajkor as the victim of a fatal shooting in central Hamilton Monday.
A 34-year-old man wounded in the shooting survived in what police describe as life-saving surgery at Hamilton General Hospital.
Det. Sgt. Matt Kavanagh said police have no suspects but several persons of interest. Kavanagh said it was not a random shooting.
The investigation is continuing and Kavanagh said police expect an arrest soon.
Hamilton Police spokeswoman Terri-Lynn Collings said the death is the second homicide in the city this year.
Hamilton's first homicide this year happened on April 6. Michael Swistak was shot and killed in the playground at Cathy Weaver Elementary School. A 19-year-old man was arrested in connection with that incident.
About 6 p.m. Monday police arrived at a house north of Barton Street east of Sanford Avenue.
Hamilton General Hospital confirmed that two patients arrived at the hospital in critical condition.
At the scene of the shooting Hamilton Police superintendent Warren Korol said, “we have a number of witnesses. No arrests have been made.”
Neighbours say they saw a man and a woman taken away by police in handcuffs.
Kavanagh told the news conference this morning that the woman was released.
A woman who lives next door to the violence said her husband was at home at the time of the shooting.
She said her husband heard a loud noise and then moaning coming from the backyard. When he went outside, he found a man with gunshot wounds in his backyard.
Neighbours are still reacting to the shooting this morning. Milton Avenue is closed off by police but residents on Westinghouse Avenue, directly across the street from the shooting, are shaken by the noises they heard.
"Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang," said Sandy Cassidy, who lives across the road. "There were five."
Cassidy says she looked out the window to see someone running down the street.
"We heard a lady screaming, but it didn't really kick in until we saw the ambulances," said resident Paul DeCost. "A lot of people heard it."
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