4 injured, no arrests in ByWard Market shooting

Ottawa police are investigating an early morning shooting in the ByWard Market that left multiple people injured. 

Police officers on foot patrol responded to a series of gunshots on Clarence Street between Dalhousie and William streets at around 1:30 a.m. Saturday.

When they arrived at a bar in the area, officers found four men with gunshot wounds, police said in a statement. Two were suffering from life-threatening injuries.

All four men were taken to the hospital and there was no update on their conditions as of Monday afternoon.

Police said no arrests have been made and there are no suspects. They said they believe the shooting was a "targeted incident, in which bystanders sustained injuries as a result of the gunfire."

Police did not say how many of the shooting victims were believed to be bystanders.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the force's guns and gangs unit, or submit an anonymous tip through Crime Stoppers.

Market 'overwhelmingly safe,' councillor says

Czarina Wilson works across the street from where the shooting took place, and said she's sometimes afraid to leave work that early in the morning.

"I usually have people with me at all times. It's kind of something I do personally to keep myself safe," she said. "I've just heard a lot ... of stuff like this happening lately, and it's definitely scary."

• Make ByWard Market safer and more diverse, businesses tell city

ByWard Market artisan Pierre Cloutier told Radio-Canada that while security has improved, it's clearly not enough if four people still ended up being shot.

"Tourists don't like to go to places where there is violence," he said in French. "For us, it's terrible in terms of traffic."

While the violence is concerning, it's not unique to the ByWard Market, and the tourist hotspot remains "overwhelmingly safe," said Rideau-Vanier Coun. Stéphanie Plante.

"We have 50,000 unique visits to the ByWard Market each week. We have conferences, we have tournaments, we have people [going there] just to eat, who are on their way to catch public transit," Plante told Radio-Canada.

"These incidents occur around the 3 a.m. mark. And typically, I don't know about you, but I'm not in the ByWard Market at that time. I'm in bed."

Plante said the shooting would likely be discussed Wednesday when city council votes on a new municipal corporation to oversee the market, as well as among the future members of that body.