An overnight shooting at a city-run park across from a Halifax emergency shelter occurred days after municipal officials were urged to take security action to prevent risky behaviour from escalating in the green space, CBC News has learned.
The 1 a.m. shooting on July 12 has deeply affected staff and residents at Metro Turning Point, the city’s homeless shelter for men, according to a statement from Shelter Nova Scotia, which operates the 30-bed facility.
Shelter employees and a person in the area rushed to “keep the injured individual alive until paramedics arrived,” said Linda Wilson, CEO of Shelter Nova Scotia, in a statement. The 39-year-old man, who sustained gunshot wounds, was taken to hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries, said police.
Employees also supported another person who came inside the shelter seeking safety, said Wilson.
Dartmouth councillor Tony Mancini, who worked alongside Wilson as a director on Shelter Nova Scotia’s board, praised the employees who acted “heroically.”
“Staff are trained and told not to leave the grounds,” he said. Even though the park is not on shelter property, “like good Nova Scotians and Haligonians, when someone’s in need, most jump into it and they jumped into it.”
The creation of the park — along with a network of realigned roads, safer pedestrian crossings, and high-density lots — was the culmination of reimagining the Cogswell district, one of the city’s largest building projects.
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Shelter Nova Scotia participated in the district’s planning process “over the past decade, and consistently raised concerns related to the design, location and after-hours impacts of the public park” across from the shelter, Wilson said.
It was built anyway, and opened last fall.
The park features a gazebo, picnic benches, a water fountain, raised garden beds, and artwork. The green space is tucked in between the Halifax Water treatment plant and the shelter.
The street was also dramatically altered. Previously, the shelter was highly visible on busy, multi-lane Barrington Street. The road is now a one-way side street with a bike lane called Amalamek Way.
Drug use, partying, fighting and “behaviour that’s really inappropriate and dangerous” have been happening in the park at night, said Mancini.
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For several months, the non-profit organization incurred the cost of security at the park to the tune of approximately $40,000 to $50,000, he said, even though the property is owned by Halifax Water and leased to the city.
When it became clear that two security guards were required to “safely manage the environment,” the city took over responsibility, said Wilson.
Halifax brought in security at the end of March, which “seemed to calm things,” and withdrew it on May 22, said Mancini.
In July, after problems resumed, Mancini said Wilson sought his help out of frustration. He quickly organized a meeting with the city’s parks and recreation department, the community public safety office, Halifax Water, shelter staff, and Virginia Hinch, the councillor for north-end Halifax where the park is located. The city agreed to look into installing fencing with a gate.
Five days after the meeting, there was gunfire in the park.
The suspect fled the scene on an electric scooter after the shooting. Halifax Regional Police continue to investigate the incident, which they do not believe was random.
Overnight security at the city’s expense has now been reinstated and police patrols have increased. The plan is to build a fence with a gate to be locked at night. If it continues to be hazardous, removing the park is an option, said Mancini.
Hinch, in her first term as councillor, regretted that the shelter’s concerns “fell on deaf ears.”
She hopes extra policing and community safety programs will make a difference. She said her district, which stretches from downtown to the city’s North End, is home to more than 30 agencies that provide social support including a safe injection site, the needle exchange program, the provincial Department of Community Services, and one of the city’s two remaining encampment sites.
Erecting a fence around the park will only move the problem, she said.
“I’m concerned about this community as a whole, to be honest.”
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