Two men have been injured in separate shootings that took place in Regina Monday evening.
The first shooting took place in the vicinity of Victoria Avenue and McTavish Street around 5:22 p.m. The victim later called police to his home where the report was given. His injuries are described as not-life threatening.
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In a release, police said details on the incident are limited at this point, and the investigation is ongoing.
The second shooting took place in the 1300 block of Garnet Street just before 8 p.m. The male victim suffered an abdominal gunshot wound. His injuries are described as serious in nature, but he is said to be in stable condition.
According to police, two men were sitting on the front step of a home, when a black SUV pulled up. Words were exchanged between the people involved, a man got up to go in the home, when he was shot. Police believe he was shot from the vehicle. The SUV then drove away.
Like the first incident, this investigation is in the early stages. However, police spokesperson Elizabeth Popowich said that they may have found the SUV.
“We did have a description of the vehicle and it matched a stolen vehicle. I think that we’ve made a bit of progress in that we’ve recovered a vehicle that may be the vehicle involved, but that’s only one more step in a series of tasks that goes with this investigation,” she said.
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The investigation into this shooting continues. Police do not know if the two offences are related.
Violent firearms offences have increased so far this year in Regina. Between January and the end of May the city saw 66 offences, a 20 per cent increase from the same time period in 2017.
These type of offences have increase each year since 2014, with the exception of 2016. There were 14 violent offences in 2014, 32 in 3015, 31 the next year, 55 last year, and 66 as of May 31, 2018.
“Any time you are dealing with firearms in the community it really adds to the concern and urgency, not just on the part of police, but the community in general,” Popowich said. “Firearms have a great deal of potential for causing injury or death. For that reasons we vigorously investigate those incidents.”
Regina police have now taken part in two gun amnesty programs to get unwanted firearms off the streets. The recent provincial amnesty saw 369 firearms turned in.
READ MORE: Hundreds of guns returned in first provincial gun amnesty
Anyone with information on either incident is asked to call either the Regina Police Service, 306-777-6500, or Crimestoppers, 1-800-222-8477.