New Halifax Councillor Lindell Smith opened Tuesday’s regional council meeting by taking a moment to offer “condolences and sadness for the community” in the wake of Monday night’s fatal shooting.
READ MORE: Halifax police investigate fatal shooting near police HQ
“Being a young council member, especially being a young African Nova Scotian male, seeing lots of friends and colleagues lose their lives to violence is very hard to see,” Smith said.
“And I just want to send my utmost condolences and I hope as a city we can work together and try to combat this.”
“It’s really hard to deal with that as a young member of our community, and seeing so many of us being lost in the streets.”
Smith is the councillor for Halifax Peninsula North, where the city’s two most recent homicides took place.
Fifty-Eight-year-old Terrance Izzard was killed on the night of Nov. 14 in a shooting on Cragg Avenue, less than a kilometre away from the scene of this week’s shooting on Nov. 21. Investigators believe Izzard may not have been the intended target of that shooting.
So far, Halifax Regional Police haven’t released any details about the most recent victim other than that he is a 22-year-old male. They also haven’t released information about a possible suspect, or stated whether they believe it’s connected to previous homicides in the city.
Timeline: Homicides in Halifax in 2016
In April, 23-year-old Naricho Clayton was shot and killed on Gottingen Street, just a few blocks away from Cragg Avenue.
District 6 Councillor Tony Mancini echoed Smith’s sentiments as the council session opened.
“To Councillor Smith and his neighbourhood, our hearts definitely go out to you and your community, to all of our communities,” he said.