String of pellet gun shootings in Guelph raises concerns for community, police

There have been three separate reports of pellet gun attacks in the past seven days in Guelph, Ont.

Police have made an arrest in one case and continue to investigate the two other attacks. 

"We do see, fairly regularly, different types of what I could consider replica firearms," Guelph Police Service spokesperson Scott Tracey said.

He said that instead of traditional pellet guns, they're seeing an increase in Airsoft guns, which shoot a rubber or plastic pellet. 

"They're difficult to tell in appearance from real guns." 

In the Halloween night attack, Tracey said the gun was described as assault-rifle shaped. There is no description from the other incidents, but the projectiles recovered are consistent with Airsoft guns, he told CBC News.

Although they're used recreationally for things like paintball, he said they're seeing an increase over the past couple of years with people who both carry and use this type of pellet gun. 

On Oct. 30, two women were driving along Woodlawn Road East near Riverside Park when two shots made it through their open window, hitting one woman in the head and the other on the cheek. A man who was a passenger in a separate car was hit in the ear. 

Witnesses in that attack describe the suspect as a youth, approximately 15 years old and wearing all black. He was chased into Riverside Park but has not been identified or arrested. 

On Oct. 31, several young trick-or-treaters were shot in the torso, neck and arms with plastic pellets from an Airsoft gun near Morningcrest Park on Severn Drive. All victims said they were approached by a group of 10 males who were all wearing gorilla costumes except one wearing a ghillie suit. 

On Nov. 8, a Guelph man was charged after firing a pellet gun into a crowd of young people at a parking lot downtown. The group did know the man. Guelph Police said in a media release that "the male is currently on conditions not to associate with a woman in the crowd." 

In that attack, one man was struck close to the eye and another was hit twice in the back. 

According to police, no victims in any of the attacks required medical attention, but Tracey said that doesn't erase the danger. 

He said, for example, that two women who were hit while driving could've lost control of their vehicle. The man hit in the eye also could've fared much worse. 

"The injuries that we're seeing at least in these recent incidents were not serious in themselves, but certainly had the ability to cause much more serious injuries," Tracey said. 

It also poses a danger to the owner of the gun themselves if officers can't tell whether they're dealing with a real gun or not, he said. 

Guelph police continue to look for the attackers from last Wednesday and Thursday.