Neighbors rattled as man clings to life after ‘targeted’ shooting

A man was in critical condition and St. Thomas police were searching for a suspect following a shooting in the city’s south-end Saturday morning.

Officers called at about 6 am to a shooting at a home on Palm Street in the Elgin County city, located south of London, found an adult man who had been shot in the torso, St. Thomas police said.

Police said the man was rushed to a London hospital, where he underwent surgery and was listed in critical condition as of the early afternoon Saturday. Officers believe the shooting was targeted and say there is “no risk to public safety.”

Tactical officers with the Ontario Provincial Police were called in to assist with the investigation.

Investigators remained on the scene by the early afternoon, as they “actively work to identify and arrest the suspect(s) in this case,” police said.

Several neighbors told The Free Press that several police cruisers, including a canine unit and a SWAT team, surrounded a home on Palm Street earlier in the morning.

“I was a little bit scared,” Maggie Underhill, a longtime resident, said of seeing the large police presence.

“I feel a little bit nervous but this is a really quiet, friendly neighborhood,” she said, calling it a “one-off incident.”

Like Underhill, many residents in the area said they didn’t hear the gunfire but awoke to flashing lights and officers probing the scene.

“I went for a walk and that’s when I found out there was a shooting,” said Chris Zinn, who lives nearby.

“An officer told me to get in the house” at around 6:10 am, he said.

Three police cruisers were holding the scene around 2 pm, with one officer positioned at the side of a house, near the garage. Multiple residents said a family with teenagers has lived there for a few years.

The roads surrounding Palm Street were closed for several hours during the investigation, but had re-opened by noon.

Investigators were asking anyone with information about the shooting to contact them at 519-631-1224 or Crime Stoppers 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).

It was less than a month ago that St. Thomas police were probing another case of gunfire, which is quite rare in that city. On Dec. 9, police said officers had responded to an apartment building on Princess Avenue, near Elizabeth Street and south of Talbot Street, after receiving a report of a “loud bang” and a man running away from the building’s laneway.

Investigators described it as an isolated incident and noted there was no direct threat to the public.