Two people are fighting for their lives after a stunning daylight shooting in downtown St. Catharines that also injured a third person.
Niagara Regional Police were called to Niagara St and Church St just before 4 p.m. Thursday. Witness video shows people rushing the aid of a man or boy lying on his back at the edge of the road.
A teenage male and two men were reportedly hit by bullets. Two of the victims were airlifted to trauma centres outside Niagara with life-threatening injuries. The other victim is being treated in a local hospital.
Police are looking for two suspects, described as black men between 19 and 23-years-old. One suspect was wearing a black hoodie and jeans. Investigators have not been able to say if the shooting was random or targeted.
Sections of Niagara, Church, Queenston St and Geneva St are closed as the Emergency Task Unit check out a number of homes nearby.
The shooting unfolded in a corner of downtown beyond a theatre complex, arena, shops and restaurants. There have been longstanding concerns about poverty, drugs, and prostitution in the area untouched by a revitalization of the core in recent years.