Homeless encampment shooting suspect arrested
By Lethbridge Herald on July 11, 2022.
Herald photo by Al Beeber
Police attend a tent camp along Stafford Drive South on Monday after a shooting occurred at the scene the evening before.Ry Clarke – Lethbridge Herald – Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Police have arrested a suspect in connection with a shooting Sunday night near the 500 block of Stafford Drive South resulting in a non-life-threatening injury to a 33-year-old man.
At around 8 p.m. police responded to a report of gunfire near the encampment, finding a man with a gun shot wound who was transported to hospital by EMS for treatment. Investigators have determined the suspect and victim knew each other and were having a verbal altercation that escalated to gun fire resulting in the victim being shot in the leg and the suspect fleeing the scene.
With the help of witnesses the suspect was identified and arrested without incident a short time later north of the encampment near the 600 block of Stafford Drive North. The gun used in the altercation has yet to be recovered and Lethbridge Police Service are asking anyone with information regarding the case or the firearm used to call 403-328-4444. Due to the nature of this being a targeted crime police believe there is no evidence to suggest an ongoing risk to the general public at this time.
Staff Sgt. Bruce Hagel, told reporters on Monday about the events that transpired.
“Shortly after last night, July 10, Lethbridge Police was contacted regarding the shootings, which occurred in the 500 block of Stafford Drive itself. There are some temporary structures, encampments, there. When members arrived, they found a 33-year-old male with a gunshot wound to his leg. He was taken to hospital for treatment by Lethbridge Fire and EMS. During the investigation, it was determined, again, that a firearm was used. And police a short time later, later that evening, located a 37-year-old male and took him into custody.”
Encampments have been appearing in different areas of the of city with police responding to violent encounters, but this is the first incident involving a shooting. Police obtained a search warrant to investigate the tents and structures in the area but were unable to locate the gun used in the altercation. Further efforts will utilize Search and Rescue personnel to assist in locating the weapon used.
Hagel says “We want to mitigate any violent acts. We’re always concerned about public safety. In this particular incident where a firearm is used, again, it’s not common. This is the first one this year, but anytime a firearm is used, no matter where it is, it’s always a concern. And it’s something that the police obviously are going to investigate as in-depth as we can to find out who did it and to ensure that public safety.”
Police have also contacted social services to provide assistance to occupants of the encampment who have been impacted by the incident.
The encampment was planned to be taken down Wednesday, however with the ongoing investigation it has been postponed to allow police to properly conducted its investigation.
“What I would say to the public is that we’re out there, we’re being as proactive as we can with the resources we have. We live in this community, too. […] We’re concerned about public safety as well. And we’re doing all we can to ensure that public safety,” said Hagel.
The name of the individual arrested in connection with the incident has not yet been released, and charges are pending.
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Staff Sgt Hagel is correct! They are doing all they can to ensure public safety, there should be no backlash by the community against police!
They are working in a society that believes that Addicts (Not homeless) have an inherent right to do whatever they want to do, and Resident Rights are subservient to the Addicts.
We also live in a society where guilt is spread around like the Donation Basket in a Cathedral! The Religious continually impose their guilt trips on residents that we are never doing enough, which is partially true. But they are equally to blame! They want the Residents and City to cripple the downtown to meet their demands.
You will note at NO time do the nonprofits suggest that serving the Addicts is best done outside of town, why is that?
Two reasons, one they like assembling as much property and services as they can in an area that will lead to suppressing of real estate prices so their donations can buy the suppressed real estate. Secondly they really have no concern for surrounding communities, and businesses.
I have yet to read one statement from any religious group in Lethbridge that interacts with the “Homeless” that does anything else but states that there could be “issues” in the surrounding community or businesses if the area is chosen! Drop terms like “working with business” is a con because the intent is never to work with business it is to listen to them complain and then do it anyway! The City Staffers go along with what the nonprofits suggest, so between the two groups it gets done in the Downtown and we become a mini DTES Vancouver in a flash….but its okay cuz God wanted it that way???
If you are unsure about that statement just look at any other city that has decided they will service the “homeless” where they are! I highlight the term “homeless” with intent because its part of the whole package!
You get the entire package from redefining the individual from Addict to either “Client” or “Homeless” , you get the package where they “must treat them where they are” which always means they treat them in the downtown because that’s where the Soup Kitchen located when the homeless, were defined properly in the 60s.
You then get the marketing package of guilt. That its never enough. So the Citizens of the City must meet the expectations of their church which is to destroy the downtown, or be considered a uncaring piece of crud!
Where do the police fit in this? Somewhere in the middle hoping not to offend anyone because as they say, they live here! Where is the middle? Somewhere between Guilt and a Catch and Release System, a place I would never want to serve!
There is another answer, but it requires the Churches to realize that DO NO HARM is really DO NO HARM to ANYONE and support a move of services! Which would mean the churches would have to admit they were wrong and Lord that won’t happen in my lifetime!
So if they won’t change, we have to ensure we change their minds for them, or, fall in line and destroy the city, your choice!
What is rather interesting is they know that the majority are indigenous and they know the indigenous would like access to their children. They know they have an opportunity to support a plan that moves the shelter/temp housing to the outskirts of town which would then allow the Indigenous to treat their own, so why did they not table and support such an idea, after all, apparently they are doing it for free, right?
They had their chance to support this city when they were members of the Social Services Integration Group working for the city! They did not support it, in fact they attempted to shame and embarrass the author of the solution instead. When that failed they submitted their single downtown plan solution as forecasted.
Thank God, the City did not accept the Terms of Reference and shut down their solution before it saw the light of day.
But, it showed that this Cities nonprofits are no different then any other cities, they are more then willing to crush an entire neighborhood or business district because “that’s where they are” !
This was never to be a Community Care Campus which was another “package invented by nonprofits”. Their soul intent(pun intended) was to create a Southern Alberta Rehab Facility which would have satisfied one group and one group only, THEM! Which is rather amusing if you think about it, because it does not satisfy the addicts ancestral being, nor allows for parental interaction!
We have another opportunity, we work with the Blood Reserve and we produce a solution for all, DO NO HARM to Anyone. You can tell by the language that we are abrasive in our pursuit of EQUAL TREATMENT FOR ALL but you have to be nowadays, if you are not, your voice is not heard above the organ music in the background.
We have a plan, we are working with as many indigenous who will listen to us and contrary to what some would like to believe, we actually care, we want Permanent housing NOW, not 3 years from now! What is permanent housing? Permanent housing for a practicing addict is a steel building with the hardest interior/exterior walls you can find. The building has to survive the onslaught of a methhead for as long as he/she remains one … https://lethccc.com
PS- If the Religious Nonprofits had cooperated with me, the steel buildings would be built, (or as a minimum under construction) and this incident with a shotgun would not have happened because there would be no way to get the shotgun into the facility! The Police would not have to be apologizing for something that is not their fault and the City Council would not be having a brain storm this morning trying to figure out what their next move is!
WAKE UP LETHBRIDGE!
We need to get rid of some of the old upper administration at City Hall that are not standing up for the citizens, but being led by the less than .5% of the troublemakers and as you say the non-profits, but let us not forget that Reconciliation has paused many actions, because they are afraid to step on toes and because they are, more people die, more families are devastated and the taxpayer foots the bills! We are allowing a under 300 people in this city to wreak havoc and cost millions take away valuable donation funds that could be used in so many other areas. We need leadership that has not being brainwashed or live under threat by many who live next to our city, but no in it and threaten our leadership, while failing to manage their own issues, many of which came from their communities.
We have a great Council, Police Chief and City Manager, but it appears we need a purge of the old administration that supported the SCS and get someone that supports the citizens and is not afraid to make the tough decisions that protect the city, the citizens and saves the lives of many that are impacted by the fear of acting with tough actions.
It appears it is the only way to take back our city! It is time decisions were made to protect the taxpayer and residents who live and pay taxes in this city!
Most of the people in that encampment were not from Lethbridge! There was a higher concentration of Non-Indigenous represented there as well, unless they were Metis.
We are allowing these groups to live lawlessly, not working, so living off of society, whether by social supports (taxpayer) or non-profits (taxpayer donations), with food/water and pop delivered to the encampments by the non-profits and free clothing dropped off with a few bags seen thrown or sitting beside a dumpster (wasted) and piles of bicycles in these encampments (stolen).
They took over that area, blocking the ‘public’ sidewalks so those wanting to access the LSCO, Yates or City Hall had to walk an extra block to conduct business (many are seniors), while being intimidated or even threatened.
The people in these encampments are aggressive and as we have just seen, can be dangerous. Many have knifes, but will use even BBQ forks, tree branches, 2X4 lumber, etc. as a weapon. You never know what they have under their coats or close by. Athough guns are rare, if you have watched the news you have seen how many drug busts included guns.
This is why police need to be the ones who move these encampments along, but more importantly, do not let them set up nearby. They are illegal camps and we are only allowing them to live lawless and giving them more of the impression that they can do what they want, when they want!
They are very good talkers, manipulators, it is how they con people and they can sweet talk you into believing they are not doing anything wrong! Many get sucked in!
Society is developing a large group of people that have turned ‘feral’, returning to the wild, wild west days.
Many of these people just do not want to work or live under the rules of parents, or landlords, or employers and we are helping them continue to become more anti-social.
We need to stop this now! There is no excuse for these encampments! We have supplied more than enough housing for those ‘truly’ in need and they are many jobs needed to be filled, that we bring in foreign workers for, expecially this time of year!
We need to stop this before we are supporting these people for the rest of their lives because they refuse to work. There are many that were not addicts, that just were going through the rebellions stages of their lives and saw how easy it now is in the city of Lethbridge and came here to just live on the streets in the summer as urban campers and have food, water and clothing given to them, then they become hard core addicts and eiher die or slowly kill themselves!
We can only blame ourselves for creating such an atmosphere!
In the end I am concerned as suggested by a Councillor already, that they are “confused” and need to ask questions.
I think that is a bit of a cop out, to be honest! Confusion is generally created when you are more concerned about perception than you are about doing the right thing!
The “right thing” is in your heart already! You are being Confused to consider by the City Social Services Staff (CSSS), which is the term “wider regions”. So whether Councilor’s realize or appreciate what is being said is of great concern for me. Wider Regions means Southern Alberta Rehab Facility because as stated it was to serve people who have no services where they live.
So, whom doesn’t have services? The list is long and it extends from Coutts, to Pinscher Creek, to Medicine Hat to Nanton.
Now, I know that the Councillors heard the plan created by the CSSS because I was there and heard exactly what was said. I was also there when the SSIG came up with their ill thought out plan of putting it downtown.
So you have a group within City Admin (the CSSS) who are on exactly the same page as the nonprofits who want it downtown. You have Councilors who state they are “confused” and you have the Grassroots Blood/Blackfoot wanting access to their children and Indigenous healers who want the same. You also have Indigenous healers who are suggesting strongly that the “concrete jungle of Lethbridge is NOT where the addicted should be!
So if the Blackfoot don’t want it downtown, the businesses don’t want it downtown, and the Neighborhoods do not want it downtown. That leaves three groups that are “confusing the councillors”!
Group 1 is the nonprofits
Group 2 are the CSSS
Group 3 are the Indigenous within Lethbridge that don’t want to commute for their new job and do not represent the grassroots people of the Blood who have lost their children and these people are making decisions that they have not approved!
So through a process of elimination, you remove CSSS because they are not representing the Taxpayer, they are representing the nonprofits, yet they work at our behest?
You eliminate the nonprofits because they appear to once again prefer to collapse businesses and neighborhood’s in the name of the Lord, so there must be money in it, or why would they do it? Simple question, ask them!
Lastly, the Lethbridge Indigenous which is touchy because that’s where you get the flack from. First of all, they have no plan in going back to the reserve, so because of that, they think that every person leaving the reserve does not want to go back. Lethbridge Housing is glad for the candidate and attempts to house them. However as I have discovered there is no liaison with Blood Housing and Lethbridge Housing so there is no intent to give the young person a chance to go back and become the entrepreneur he/she could be, to lift the reserve up!
So whom do you Reconciliate with? At this point I have chosen to reconciliate with the people who have lost their children, the majority live on the Reserve, not in Lethbridge. So think of it this way, Reconciliate with Mom and Dad or someone who is not talking with Mom or Dad? Your choice, but I think your choice is clear! MOM AND DAD don’t want their kids in downtown Lethbridge because its a bad influence!
If you would like me to make it clearer, perhaps I could get Alvin Mills and a Bus or 2 or 3 and truck them into your next meeting on the subject! Do what your heart tells you to do as I said in the beginning you know what to do Councilors, time to man/woman/they/them/she/it and whatever- up and do it!
I think Council is aware! I also think that many of those the live on the Indigenous communities are just as tired as we are of seeing all the carnage on our streets in Lethbridge, since they are the ones that have lost so many young lives.
Harm reduction doesn’t work! Allowing people to live in encampments when they could be working only destroys a workforce!
If you come to Lethbridge knowing you have no money to live on and no place to live, how is it our responsibility, especially when you have no intentions on working, because you were told that you can come to our city and live on the streets for free, with free clothing, fluids, food, drug paraphernalia all delivered right to your tent or encampment and in winter, you are put up in a motel/hotel. There is a limit and every community has a choice and the Kainai and other Indigneous communities banish their troublemakers who are members, so why are we do we allow all the transients to come and set up shop here?
That encampment had a young woman from Ontario and others from Calgary, Cardston area, and BC. They came here because of the services were provide here!