Gondek calls on province, feds for better mental health, housing supports amid gun violence

Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek says the city’s increasing gun violence is a crisis that must be combated with greater mental health, addiction and housing initiatives and additional support from the provincial and federal governments.

Calgary has seen 97 shootings in 2022 so far, already surpassing last year’s total of 95.

Six shootings have occurred over the past two weeks, killing two people and injuring at least three.

"There are people that are feeling isolated and lost, feeling no sense of community," said Gondek.

"There are housing issues that are putting people into really difficult positions, and if we don't start treating those things together, and if we don’t start taking municipalities seriously, we're not going to approach a problem in a holistic way."

Gondek believes the Alberta government is "too fractured" with different ministries, and says there needs to be a focus on cities right now as first responders do all they can to provide support.

However, others believe that more work needs to be done at the municipal level.

Executive director of the Calgary Taxpayers’ Association Dave Rutherford is calling on Gondek and her council to bring key stakeholders together to host a summit that deals with gang violence, gun legislation and arrests made by police.

"We just announced that there's some government grants to help people on different drug addictions and stuff like that, that's fantastic and needs to be done," said Rutherford.

"But by the time we get that all in place, we need to meet down with everyone and get a game plan. When you deal with business, you need to get a game plan, and we need to protect the citizens of Calgary."

Rutherford also says the city should provide more support for its first responders.

"As we see this city grow, the city needs funding without laying people off and it needs to look at redirecting the city's taxpayer dollars to public safety." 

'AN ELEMENT OF RANDOMNESS’: NEUFELD

Calgary police chief Mark Neufeld has also been vocal about the issue of gun violence this week, informing citizens that the drivers and motivations behind shootings are changing. 

He says that while 25 per cent of Calgary’s gun violence this year has been linked to organized crime, about 75 per cent of the shootings are attributable to other issues.

"Some of them have more of an element of randomness … which makes them more difficult to intervene," said Neufeld.

The chief also says that many of the guns used in these shootings have been smuggled into Canada from the United States over the border with serial numbers that are grounded off and untraceable.

"In other cases, these guns end up falling into the wrong hands. The last way that we’ve seen guns change hands is through straw buyers who are lawful people who have firearms, licenses to purchase firearms and then they’ll buy them and they they’ll fall into the hands of organized crime."

Shooting incidents over the course of the past two weeks in Calgary are as follows:

Thursday, Aug. 11 – shots were fired at a home in Radisson Heights, resulting in the arrest of one man.

Thursday, Aug. 18 – Calgary police responded to a shooting in the southwest community of Evergreen where 33-year-old Nakita Baron was killed and her 46-year-old husband Talal Fouani was critically injured. He remains in hospital.

Detectives are continuing to look for a suspect described as being 25 to 35 years old, 172 centimetres (5’8”) to 182 centimetres tall (6’), 81 kilograms (180 pounds) with a medium build.

He was wearing a dark blue hard hat with a black hood, a bright orange T-shirt with a yellow reflective vest and dark coloured pants.

The SUV he was seen leaving the area in was described as a black 2017 to 2020 Mitsubishi Eclipse.

Sunday, Aug. 21 – Police responded to the Ambassador Restaurant and Bar in Radisson Heights/Albert Park at around 4:40 a.m. where 35-year-old Temesgen Tesfatsion was shot and killed. 

Sgt. Sean Gregson with the Calgary Police Service homicide unit said in a news release that investigators are continuing to look through CCTV footage and interview witnesses.

"We believe this was a targeted attack within the restaurant and are exploring the motive behind the shooting and whether the target was the victim or one of his associates," said Gregson.

The suspect is described as being 30-years-old, 187 centimetres tall (6’2”), with a medium build and short black hair. 

Sunday, Aug. 21 – Shots fired between vehicles in Penbrooke Meadows. One person injured.

Monday, Aug. 22 – Shots fired between vehicles in Pineridge. No injuries reported.

Tuesday. Aug. 23 – Police reported a total of 25 shots fired in a Radisson Heights/Albert Park parking lot; one person injured.

Anyone with information on these or any gun-related crimes in Calgary can call the police non-emergency line at 403-266-1234 or can submit tips anonymously through Crime Stoppers.