Thursday, March 10, 2016
Nooredin Hassan, 20, was shot and killed on Jasmine Crescent on March 8, 2016. (Supplied photo)
Hassan's death is the 3rd homicide on Jasmine Crescent in less than a year
CBC News
A 20-year-old man who served time in jail for an armed home invasion was shot and killed Tuesday evening while walking along Jasmine Crescent in Ottawa's east end.
Police have identified the man as Nooredin Hassan.
It's Ottawa's fifth homicide of 2016 and the third on Jasmine Crescent in less than a year.
Hassan collapsed after he was shot near the intersection of Ogilvie Road just before 6:30 p.m., said Staff Sgt. Bruce Pirt on Wednesday.
He was discovered by a passing motorist and taken to hospital, where he later died of his injuries, Pirt said. He added that police and paramedics arrived within minutes of the shooting.
Witnesses said they heard squealing tires and saw vehicles leaving the scene, said Pirt. Police have not confirmed that Hassan was killed in a drive-by shooting.
'A family guy'
On Wednesday, members of the local Somali community streamed through the Hassan family's home on Cedarwood Drive in the Heron Gate neighbourhood to pay their respects.
Two men were involved in a gunfight on that same block on Cedarwood Drive in June 2014.
Hassan was the fourth of five siblings, his older brother Ali Nur told CBC Ottawa.
Hassan had attended Gloucester High School, just blocks away from where he was shot, but did not graduate, his brother said Wednesday. He added that Hassan was hoping to return to school to get his diploma.
"He's the glue who held this family together — a family guy," Ali Nur said.
Nooredin Hassan was sentenced to 19 months in jail after being charged in a November 2013 armed home invasion and a December 2013 convenience store robbery. He was also charged in a December 2013 theft at an LCBO.
He was 18 when he turned himself in to police in January 2014, police said in news release at the time.
On Tuesday evening, students involved in after-school activities at Lester B. Pearson Catholic High School, located at the same intersection as the shooting, were asked to stay indoors as a precaution as the major crimes unit investigated.
Duty Insp. Sean McDade said police were interviewing many witnesses on Tuesday night, and there was "conflicting information" on whether or not a vehicle was involved in the shooting.
No suspects have been identified and it's too early to tell what the motive of the shooting might be, McDade said in the hours following the shooting.
Roch Rondeau, a 21-year-old who lives in the neighbourhood, didn't see the shooting but saw a young man lying on the pavement being treated by paramedics.
"It's not that good of a neighbourhood anymore," said Rondeau, adding he'd like to see more "a lot more security" in the area.
Pirt said police have surveillance video from both the high school and a nearby daycare, but there are no traffic cameras at the intersection where the shooting happened.
Hassan had criminal charges against him, but police have no evidence he was a gang member, Pirt said.
2 homicides on Jasmine in 2015
In 2015, two teenagers were killed months apart on Jasmine Crescent.
Connor Stevenson, 18, was stabbed to death in the stairwell of the neighbouring highrise a 2020 Jasmine Cres., in April. David Dubois, 19, was charged with second-degree murder in Stevenson's death.
Issaiah Clachar, 17, died after being stabbed several timesoutside the highrise apartment building at 2000 Jasmine Cr., in September. Another man was also seriously injured but survived.
Keanu Croteau, 18, and Mohamad Hamade, 25, were charged with second-degree murder in Clachar's death. Both were also charged with attempted murder.
In December 2015, a man was shot in the back, chest and legs just off Jasmine Crescent, on Arrowsmith Drive.
Pirt said there's no obvious connection between Tuesday's shooting and the 2015 stabbing homicides, but said investigators are looking at connections to the shooting on Arrowsmith Drive.
He said that five homicide in Ottawa so early in the year is off track with the average of 10 annually. There were seven homicides in Ottawa in 2015.
"If we keep on with this trend we're on track for a record year. It could quiet down. We're hoping it does," Pirt said.
Tierney demands 'real solutions'
Beacon Hill-Cyrville Coun. Tim Tierney, whose ward includes Jasmine Crescent, said in an email that he would be meeting with both Ottawa Police Service Chief Charles Bordeleau and Coun. Eli El-Chantiry, chair of the Ottawa Police Services Board, on Thursday at City Hall.
Tierney said he would be calling for the installation of closed-circuit cameras in the area, additional police patrols, and quicker implementation of a neighbourhood watch program.
"I will not stop until we find real solutions to this ongoing problem," Tierney wrote.