A Milton, Ont., man has been charged with attempted murder in connection with a shooting on Labour Day in Peterborough, Ont., and police say the suspect is well-known to them.
The Peterborough Police Service say around 12:20 a.m. on Sept. 4, officers responded to a report of a disturbance in the area of Rubidge and Stewart Streets.
There, they found a man with a serious leg injury due to a gunshot, said police chief Stuart Betts.
The victim was first taken to the Peterborough Regional Health Centre before being transferred to a Toronto-area hospital for further treatment. Police learned the victim and another man had gotten into an argument prior to the shooting.
A search of the area failed to locate the suspect.
On Friday, Betts said with the assistance of Halton Regional Police, Suleman Hussain, 31, of Milton, was located and arrested on Thursday. He was charged with attempted murder with a firearm, as well as aggravated assault, five firearm-related charges and possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose
A search warrant was also executed at a residence in Milton, which led to the seizure of cocaine and methamphetamine. Hussain was additionally charged with three counts of possession of a schedule 1 substance for the purpose of trafficking, possession of proceeds of property obtained by crime under $5000 and failure to comply with an undertaking.
Hussain was held in custody and was scheduled to appear in court in Peterborough on Friday.
Betts noted Hussain is the same individual involved in a police pursuit on the St. Patrick’s Day weekend in the city and ended up being bitten by a police service dog. On the morning of March 18, officers were responding to a report of a vehicle theft in progress.
Police say the vehicle collided with the service’s canine-unit vehicle as the officer attempted to stop the vehicle. After crashing into a construction zone at Morrow Park, the driver fled on foot and the officer gave chase with his service dog that bit Hussain during his arrest.
Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit in July cleared the police of any wrongdoing in the incident, which led to charges of impaired driving, flight from police, dangerous driving and failure to comply with a demand.
Betts noted Hussain has received a “total global sentence” of nearly a decade for previous convictions for firearms offences, including armed robbery and weapons trafficking.
“Here we are again addressing crimes that are being incurred and have occurred by people who are out on custody,” Betts said during a media briefing.
Betts says it is a “little tiring” for police and community t0 have to deal with alleged repeat offenders.
“Here we are again, putting somebody back in custody again who continues to commit offences with a firearm again and again, and again,” Betts said.
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