A police vehicle is seen in the Flats neighbourhood in this 2023 file photo. Insp. Joe West says the service has received a rising number of firearm related complaints over the past two months. Over the weekend local police and RCMP dealt with three separate firearms cases.--NEWS FILE PHOTO
bmiller@medicinehatnews.com
Since Thursday, Medicine Hat police officers and local RCMP dealt with three firearms related incidents that led to arrests and the seizure of more than a dozen dangerous weapons spanning a three-day period
Firearm related stories are becoming more frequent in the pages of the News as police confirm they are dealing with a rise of complex gun related investigations occurring over the past few months.
This past weekend officers discharged less-lethal impact rounds and pepper ball munitions in two separate firearms related alterations that involved uncooperative suspects.
On Sept. 7 police charged a 43-year-old man after he allegedly pointed a handgun at a group of youths outside the mall. Three days later on Sept. 10 police charged a 51-year-old man after police located a sawed-off shotgun inside a hotel room.
In August police arrested two men in connection with a shooting in Tower Estates that left one person injured.
As well, a 30-year-old man was arrested and charged with four counts of attempted murder with a firearm after he opened fire and injured several Medicine Hat officers at a four-plex apartment building located in the 200 block of 8 Street SW on July 27.
“Certainly there’s been a frequency in the last couple of months here that we don’t normally see in the number of firearms related calls,” says West. “We’ve had investigations that have resulted in the seizure of firearms that, to our knowledge, weren’t used, but obviously very serious charges.”
West says officers have handled the rise in firearms calls effectively and their efforts have led to the seizure of dozens of dangerous weapons over the summer.
“We really appreciate the unpredictability of patrol work and the work that our major crimes investigators do,” says West. “Our organized crime investigators work so effectively to keep the community safe. They are well trained, well-equipped to manage these types of events and investigations effectively.
“And we’ve seen a lot of charges that have resulted (from arrests) and we’ve gotten a lot of guns off the streets lately.”
West says the uptick in firearms related calls has stretched local resources as many lead to complex investigations that require a special protocol.
“When dealing with the firearms themselves with regard to exhibiting them, (it’s) navigating through firearms criminal code and legislation,” says West who explains just one firearms offence can often generate several more.
“If we’ve got a person, a subject with firearms prohibition, who doesn’t have a licence and is in possession of a prohibited weapon, one gun complaint can generate a number of offences. So certainly they are very involved investigations.”
Along with real guns, police are also seizing more 3-D printing firearms and replicas.
“That looks exactly like a real gun,” says West. “It has made for a very complex environment for the officers.”
West says the community remains a safe place to live and explains each firearms incident has been isolated and there is no connection between them.
“From a public safety concern, we’re glad that people are calling us when they see what might be a firearm in public.”
