'I could be him:' Hamilton police investigate 1st homicide of 2020

Hamilton police have identified David Stevens as the victim of the city's first homicide of the year.

Police were called to a rooming house on Harvey Street around 11:30 p.m. and found the 46-year-old suffering from a gunshot wound, according to Det. Sgt. Peter Thom.

Officers and paramedics started CPR and Stevens was transported to hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Investigators and members of the victims services team traveled out of town to tell his family what happened.

Thom says they were toldStevens was an only child who lived in the Hamilton area.

"He has, according to the family, struggled with some personal issues over the years," said Thom, adding those struggles meant Stevens wasn't able to work.

Stevens's past included interactions with police, but Thom said there's nothing to suggest those interactions were factors in the targeted shooting that took his life.

Police are still working to determine the motive behind the shooting and say they haven't found the weapon used.

News of the shooting shook residents who live nearby.

Duane Blakeysaid he heard a loud bang at about 11 p.m.outside his Harvey Street house.

He says he peered out his front door to see a group of men who appeared to bein their 20srushing into a four-door compact car and driving away.

"I could be him," the 65-year-oldtold said of Stevenswith a startledlook on his face. "It doesn't surprise me in this area."

Larry Lewis lives across the street and says the rooming house where the shooting happened "sticks out like a sore thumb" with lots of foot traffic.

Police confirmed Stevens lived in the house and saidthere were nine people inside the seven-bedroom residence when the trigger was pulled.

Some of the people in the house witnessed "particular aspects" of the shooting and are cooperating with investigators, said Thom. The building has been sealed as investigators comb through it for evidence.

Meanwhile the residents have been moved to a hotel.

Little is known about the suspects at this point, though Thom said police are searching for three men who were seen arriving at the house in a silver, four-door sedan.

Police have also viewed some surveillance footage and are continuing to gather video from cameras in the area.

Families afraid to walk their kids to school

Early Wednesday Tracy Clegg, 53, walked her granddaughterDesireeto Cathy Wever Elementary School, as she does every morning. This time, police tape lined the sidewalks as they passed the home where the shooting happened.

Cleggsays she thinks crime is rising in Hamilton because of new people moving into old neighbourhoods. And it's changing the dynamic on the street.

"I don't want to go outside anymore," Desiree, 11, said.

Katherine King, 28, also walked her kids to school as officers stood outside the crime scene.

"I don't want this around my kids but it comes with the neighbourhood," she says.

This comes a week after a bullet hit a seven-year-old during a shooting in the city's east end.

There have been two othershootings so far in2020.