Another shooting record broken, and here's where it all happened

Important note about the map: Red points denote injuries and homicides, and yellow points denote damage to property or reports of shots heard. Ottawa police do not pinpoint exact locations; rather, they give the nearest block of 100 addresses on the street where the shooting occurred. In those cases where precise addresses aren't known, the map markers are randomly generated.

Can't see the map? View it here.

Another year, another record-breaking number of shootings in Canada's capital.

So far this year there have been 76 shootings in Ottawa, breaking last year's record of 75.

This is the sixth time in the past eight years the record has been broken.

• 21 of the 76 shootings, about 28 per cent, happened in broad daylight.
• 32 of the shootings, about 42 per cent, left victims either injured or dead (and in one case with two victims, both).
• 26 of the shootings, about 34 per cent, resulted in damage to property (vehicles, windows and doors of homes and businesses, etc).

The communities most affected include Heron Gate, Ledbury, Heatherington, South Keys, Greenboro and Hunt Club.

• MONDAY: CBC News takes an in-depth look at the gun violence in south Ottawa

The most violent day by far was Oct. 29, a Monday.

Well before dawn, Guled Ahmed, a 23-year-old from Toronto, was shot dead on Carruthers Avenue in Mechanicsville. Less than four hours later, a man was injured when shots were fired at a house on Gilmour Street in Centretown. The major crime unit, which typically handles homicides, is investigating any connection between the two incidents.

Late that night, two men in their early 20s suffered gunshot wounds in an incident on Ritchie Street near Britannia.

The two most recent incidents of gunfire included a homicide in a busy South Keys Shopping Centre parking lot on Black Friday, and a drive-by shooting on Thursday night that injured a man in his 20s. 

Ottawa police Insp. Mark Patterson, who oversees the guns and gangs unit in his role as head of covert operations, said guns are increasingly being bought in the U.S., smuggled across the border and promptly used in crimes here.

As an example, one gun was purchased in the States and used in an offence in Ottawa just 21 days later, Patterson said. Not so long ago, it took about a year for guns to make that journey.

"And that, to me, means that there's a market here where people want to acquire these guns and they're having avenues to get these guns in here at a quicker [pace]."

He's also troubled by the increasing tendency of young people to settle disputes with guns.

"It's disturbing to me as a parent. It's disturbing to me as a police officer," he said. "It's not just the City of Ottawa. This is cities across Canada that we're seeing this, and North America."