(Gatineau) The apartment where an uneventful family has been living for a short time was targeted by gunfire early Thursday in Gatineau, and police have reason to believe that the home was targeted by mistake due to its former occupants.
According to the Service de police de la Ville de Gatineau (SPVG), the apartment located on Saint-Hyacinthe Street, in the Hull-Wright district, was targeted by projectiles around midnight on the night of Tuesday to Wednesday.
“Several bullets entered the home where a family with young children has been living for just a few months. This family has no connection with the criminal world,” the police force clarified in its account of the events.
Even though no one was injured, the family was relocated as a safety measure, added the SPVG.
With the information collected during their investigation, the police put forward the hypothesis that this accommodation was targeted because of its former occupants: two men known to police circles.
“The two men, brothers in their forties and fifties, were the targets of gunfire last week, on Monday, November 27,” it was reported.
A suspect, Domenic James Edward Fortune, was arrested in connection with the shooting. He then appeared to face charges of attempted murder of Yan Beauregard, recklessly discharging a firearm, pointing a firearm and extortion.
He is still detained in prison, but the SPVG has reason to believe that the shots fired towards the apartment where the young family now lives are linked to this event.
“The Police Department of the City of Gatineau wishes to send a very clear message to the people involved in these two events: we will spare no effort to bring to justice the criminals directly or indirectly involved in these events,” warned the agent Patrick Kenney, spokesperson for the SPVG.
“Both events endangered children, citizens with no history who have nothing to do with the criminal world. […] During last week’s attempted murder, for which a man is behind bars, a mother and her children were walking on the street nearby. This time, it is a family who was put in danger in their residence,” he denounced, noting that the police presence will be increased in the area.