Published Sept. 9, 2023 2:00 p.m. ET
Ottawa police are investigating a fatal shooting outside the Infinity Convention Centre in Ottawa. Sept. 3, 2023. Two people were killed and six people were injured. (Natalie van Rooy/CTV News Ottawa)
A nine-year-old girl gets off the school bus at the wrong stop on the first day of classes, a councillor condemns a warning to tenants at the Concorde Motel and goats chase two joggers near a campground.
CTVNewsOttawa.ca looks at the top five stories in Ottawa this week.
The two men killed and six others injured in the long weekend shooting outside a wedding reception in Ottawa’s south end were not the intended targets, Ottawa police say.
Said Mohamed Ali, 26, and Abdishakur Abdi-Dahir, 29, both of Toronto, were killed in the shooting at the Infinity Convention Centre on Gibford Drive at 10:21 p.m. on Sept. 2.
Deputy Chief Trish Ferguson says approximately 50 rounds were fired during the shooting, and the shooter or shooters fled the area.
“At this point, our investigation has determined this was a targeted attack. It was focused on individuals believed to be attending one of the weddings,” Ferguson said.
“We do not, however, believe that any of the victims of this brazen and careless attack were the intended targets. Further, there’s no evidence to suggest this was a hate-motivated crime.”
Investigators believe it was a targeted attack linked to gang activity.
Police released no information about a suspect or vehicle description this week.
An Ottawa family had a scare on the first day of school when the school bus dropped off their nine-year-old daughter in the wrong neighbourhood.
“When the bus pulled up, the doors open and we told the driver we were waiting for our daughter, but she wasn’t on the bus,” John Spicer said.
Their daughter was let off blocks away from the corner she should have been dropped off at.
“I got off at the stop and they didn’t ask any questions and it was long,” Spicer’s daughter said. “It was like a long walk.”
New to Ottawa, she then had to figure out where to go and how to get home. She walked for more than 20 minutes on one of the hottest days of the summer before finally finding her house.
The Ottawa Student Transportation Authority says a parent’s first call should go to the bus company that is transporting your child.
“We always recommend that parents contact the operator first,” says Vicky Kyriaco, OSTA Chief Administrative Officer. “So they’re the very first point of contact who can radio the driver right away. If they call OSTA, we have to call the operator and then that creates a bit of a delay there.”
Rideau-Vanier Coun. Stephanie Plante says a note posted at the Concorde Motel on Montreal Road has her “burning angry.”
Plante shared an image of a piece of paper on Concorde Motel letterhead this week, which warned people from taking donations to the Salvation Army Thrift Store.
“To all residents of the Concorde Motel, please be aware: The Salvation Army Thrift Store is a tenant of the Concorde Motel and all donations that are dropped off are the property of the Salvation Army Thrift Store – the taking of donations is stealing and will not be tolerated. The Salvation Army reserves the right to press criminal charges and you may face immediate eviction from the premises. Cameras are monitoring donation area 24/7.”
The note was signed Concorde Motel management.
“People who drop off donations do so in a haphazard way – sometimes bags are left to accumulate over several days and items they can’t sell are donated to the Motel clients. No one has ever complained to me, Ottawa Bylaw or OPS or city caseworkers about this issue,” Plante wrote in her thread on X.
“Now the Concorde and Salvation Army want to threaten their tenants (most are immigrants and with very little knowledge of our legal system) with ‘eviction’ and ‘criminal charges’ for taking a pair of discarded toddler snowpants before they are triaged.”
Management from the Concorde Motel did not respond to a request for comment from CTV News Ottawa. The Salvation Army told Newstalk 580 CFRA it did not post the sign and does not agree with it.
King Edward Avenue continues to be Ottawa’s red light district, with the three red light cameras on the road connecting Ottawa’s Lowertown neighbourhood to Gatineau issuing thousands of tickets to drivers running red lights.
Data posted on the city of Ottawa’s ‘Open Ottawa’ portal shows the city’s 85 red light cameras issued 32,678 tickets in the first seven months of the year. The three cameras on King Edward Avenue, between Besserer Street and the Mcdonald-Cartier Bridge, issued 5,230 tickets in the January to July period.
The fine for being caught running a red light by the red light cameras is $325, which includes a service fee and victim surcharge. The ticket for running the red light is issued to the registered owner of the vehicle.
The red light camera on King Edward Avenue southbound at St. Patrick Street issued the most tickets out of the 85 cameras, with 2,650 tickets for red light running in the January-July period. The camera on King Edward Avenue northbound at St. Andrew Street issued the second most tickets, with 1,531 tickets in seven months.
Ontario Provincial Police are looking for the owner of two goats that were on the loose near an eastern Ontario campground this long weekend.
According to the OPP, the goats chased a jogger on County Road 2 near the Grenville Park Camping & RV Park in Johnstown, Ont. on Sunday.
CTV News Ottawa was told that the goats are quite friendly, notwithstanding the brief chase.
Police posted to X, the platform formerly know as Twitter, for help locating the owner.
