Pubdate: Wed, 27 May 2015
Source: Metro (Calgary, CN AB)
Copyright: 2015 Metro Canada
Contact:  http://www.metronews.ca/Calgary
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4471
Author: Anna Brooks
Page: 11

RISE IN SHOOTINGS WORRIES POLICE

Calgary police voiced their concerns Tuesday about rising numbers of 
drive-by shootings and gun violence this year in Calgary.

"I hate for people to live in fear, but it's a reality we have to 
address," said Quinn Jacques with the Calgary Police Service guns and 
gangs unit. "We're accountable. We have to find out why it's 
happening and take steps to deal with it."

Regardless of whether these shootings are random or targeted, Jacques 
said one of his biggest worries is an innocent bystander getting hit.

The most recent example of this was seen on Sunday when a man driving 
in the Rundle area of northeast Calgary was hit by a bullet that flew 
through the back window of his vehicle.

While Jacques said investigators don't yet know if it was a random 
hit or a targeted attack, the incident was only a millimetre away 
from being a homicide.

"That's what scares me the most," Jacques said. "It's very alarming 
when errant shots are ending up in someone's home when they're sound asleep."

Coupled with the uptake in drive-by shootings are increases in the 
number of firearms in Calgary. Jacques said in the past, police used 
to recover either drugs or guns in criminal investigations, but now 
the two seem to go hand-in-hand.

"Where there are guns, there are drugs. That concerns us," he said. 
"A couple of years ago, it would be uncommon to find firearms present 
with drugs. Now it's almost exclusive."

In January, shots were fired from a vehicle into a home in the Rundle 
community of Calgary; only a month later, another drive-by saw shots 
fired into a vehicle in Marlborough.

Jacques said police have no new information and are still 
investigating Sunday's shooting.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom