‘We as a city have been talking about the dangers of this encampment in and around the safe injection site for almost three years,’ Mayor Bryan Paterson said
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Two people have died and one is in serious condition after a violent incident near Montreal Street’s encampment and Integrated Care Hub Thursday morning.
Kingston Police’s Const. Anthony Colangeli said emergency services were called to the area at about 10:30 a.m., where a single man had attacked three people. Colangeli said earlier in the day that the victims’ injuries were life-threatening, and they were rushed to Kingston General Hospital.
“(The injuries) are consistent with injuries one would receive from an edged weapon and a blunt object,” Colangeli said.
Matt Mills, spokesperson for Frontenac Paramedics, confirmed their crews treated one woman and two men at the scene and transported them to the hospital in critical condition.
In a statement posted on social media, Mayor Bryan Paterson confirmed two of the victims had died.
Police cornered the man and his dog in a vacant lot on the west side of Montreal Street, just north of Quattrocchi’s Specialty Foods, before starting to negotiate with him. During the discussion, police convinced the man to send his dog out to officers. Police negotiated with the man for more than six hours before taking him into custody at about 4:55 p.m.
Montreal Street has been closed between Hickson Avenue and Railway Street and residents were asked to avoid the area. Colangeli expected Montreal Street to be closed for an extended period.
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Access to the encampment was blocked off. A Kingston Transit bus was brought into the area to provide shelter.
Staff at the Integrated Care Hub locked down their building. Ted Robinson, Board chair of Trellis HIV and Community Care which operates the hub, said its staff were some of the first to respond and give first aid to the victims.
“They just did everything they could to support the people who were injured and the people who saw what was going on,” Robinson said.
He said their priority now is keeping their staff and those they serve as safe as possible.
“It appears the ICH staff is doing a great job supporting their folks, from a police aspect right now, our focus is on ending this peacefully, then we can shift focus on to the victims and the community as a whole,” Colangeli said.
Colangeli said police are examining two to three different scenes where the attacks took place. Hub staff said two of the scenes were within the encampment, while a resident in the area witnessed one attack on Montreal Street where blood has stained the pavement.
In a photo provided to the Whig-Standard, one of the victims is seen lying on the eastern sidewalk of Montreal Street with Kingston Police and another woman providing first aid. A hammer with a black handle is on the ground next to her.
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Linda McGinness, who lives north of the Integrated Care Hub, said that at about 10:44 a.m., she heard a commotion and scream outside her front door. Looking out she saw a woman who had been riding a push scooter had been struck in the head with a hammer. She was screaming and bleeding profusely before being given medical attention.
A man with a dog was across the street yelling at her.
“He kept saying, ‘I’m sick of these people,’” McGinness said.
In a video provided to the Whig-Standard, another witness is heard yelling at the man, “You hit her with a hammer!”
Staff from the Integrate Care Hub ran over to help the woman as McGinness filmed the man before he ran into the bush across the street, she said.
“We never want to see this happen, but our goal right now is just to end this as peacefully as possible,” Colangeli said. He added later that he appreciates it is a very upsetting incident, and one nobody wants to see in their community.
“It’s an awful day,” Robinson said. “Our staff is feeling this quite intensely.”
He said the staff at the Integrated Care Hub has undoubtedly been traumatized by what they’ve witnessed, but that the incident is isolated.
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“I just hope that people will not rush to any sort of judgment,” Robinson said. “We know what has been going on provincially, as far as places like the Integrated Care Hub, that have consumption treatment sites and that are centres for people who use substances, who are unhoused, and I just hope that people won’t rush to judgement, (assuming) that this horrible situation, is a reflection of that situation. Because that’s a much bigger, provincial, social, societal issue, and this is completely separate from that in my mind.”
Mayor Paterson did not seem to see it the same way, calling for the Integrated Care Hub and the safe injection site to close immediately.
“I am absolutely horrified by the situation unfolding — this is an utterly senseless act of violence,” Paterson, who is also a member of the Kingston Police Services Board, said.
“It is no longer safe for people to use (Consumption and Treatment Services) and we need to respond,” Paterson said. “We as a city have been talking about the dangers of this encampment in and around the safe injection site for almost three years. There are community partners and advocates who have fought the city on every attempt we’ve made to clear this encampment and ensure public safety for those living there. I will not stand by and wait until more people die —enough is enough.
“We need to clear the encampment, close this safe injection site and the (Integrated Care Hub) until we can find a better way to support our most vulnerable residents and work with the province to provide treatment and housing solutions.”
Robinson said Paterson’s response was what he feared.
“I hope leaders in our community will be as cautious in what they say and not advocate for things that will greater harm,” he said.
—with files from Elliot Ferguson, The Whig-Standard
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