Uncooperative victims put public safety at risk, police say after gunfire

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Half of this year’s shooting victims didn’t initially report their injuries to London police, omissions that makes probing cases of gunfire more difficult and puts the public at increased risk, police say.

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In the latest case of gunfire in London, police responded around 1:30 a.m. Sunday to a reported shooting in the area of Dundas and Clarence streets, where officers spoke with witnesses but didn’t locate any victims, police said.

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Investigators were notified later that two people showed up at the hospital with gunshot injuries not considered life-threatening, said police, who haven’t made any arrests in the case.

Under an Ontario law, workers at hospitals and health-care clinics are required to notify police whenever a patient seeks treatment for a potential gunshot wound.

The weekend double shooting – the 18th incident of gunfire this year – brings the number of people injured in shootings to eight in London. Hospital staff alerted police to four of those injured persons.

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“When we have uncooperative victims, it hampers the investigation as the information they have is valuable to officers,” police spokesperson Const. Sandasha Bough said in an email.

“When that piece of evidence is lost, there is a greater likelihood that we are unable to identify the suspect, which is a public safety issue.”

Five of this year’s cases of gunfire have happened downtown – four of them in a single month – with all occurring after midnight when post-bar crowds spill onto the streets.

In the city’s most recent incident involving a firearm, a 29-year-old man was charged after allegedly pulling out a gun during a fight outside a Richmond Row bar on Oct. 16. No shots were fired and investigators didn’t retrieve a weapon, police said.

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