MacNab triple shooting: 'I almost lost my life'
Neighbours say police were called at 7 p.m., well before shooting broke out, for 'commotion' on street
Outside the home of Monday night's triple shooting in Hamilton's north end, a man in jogging pants and no shirt leaned patiently against an sedan parked in the middle of the street, abandoned in the previous night's fray.
With Hamilton Police present, he was calm. Once they left and the car was moved, it was a different story.
"I got shot at last night," he yelled, demanding reporters leave the house at MacNab Street North and Picton Street West. "I almost lost my life."
"I just got out of Barton yesterday," he added, referencing the Hamilton-Wentworth Detention Centre.
I seen two gentlemen running down the street… 'bang, bang bang,' jump in a van and drive down Picton.- Bernice Cannon, neighbour
The man wouldn't answer questions. Neither would an older man who stood with a woman in the home's backyard, observing the tirade from a distance, pleading him to come back to the house.
Neighbour says police were called around 7 p.m., before shooting
The home is the scene of Monday night's shooting, which sent three to hospital around 10:30 p.m.
Hamilton Police believe the shooting was targeted, and officers arrived to find three men with gun shot wounds. One man was shot twice in the chest while the other two men were shot in the legs. All three were taken to hospital overnight and are in stable condition.
Neighbours on the street did not want to be identified. However, one neighbour said she saw a man running south along MacNab right after the shots were fired.
She also said police had been called to the street around 7 p.m., after an afternoon of "commotion" on the street that included fights and ultimately led to gunshots.
Hamilton Police have not responded to questions about an earlier call, or if the persons involved were known to police. Police last said they were searching for two suspects.
String of shootings in lower city
It's just the latest in a series of violent incidents in the lower city this year. A brazen daytime shooting in central Hamilton in May was so alarming that it inspired Mayor Fred Eisenberger to ask for a gun ban. There's dash-camera video of the alleged shooters, but police still have no suspects. Hours later, someone was shot King and Ashley streets.
Back on MacNab, another unidentified neighbour said the street knows the man who lives at the house is a "good person," but that his kid was the problem. That neighbour heard six gunshots back to back, and called police.
Both neighbours said the house has many people come and go all the time.
On Monday night, neighbour Bernice Cannon said, "I was standing on the porch and I thought I'd come out and see what was happening. I seen two gentlemen running down the street… 'bang, bang bang,' jump in a van and drive down Picton."