Car found burning near site of double teen shooting

Hamilton police are investigating a car fire found near the site of a double teen shooting, and trying to figure out if the two incidents are connected.

Fire department Public Information Officer Claudio Mostacci told CBC News that firefighters were called to an address on Queen Victoria Drive on Tuesday morning at 2:47 a.m.

It was just steps away from where a 17-year-old was found bleeding from four gunshot wounds two days prior. There were two shootings that night, just six minutes apart, and only ten blocks away from each other.

• 29 shootings so far this year in Hamilton outpace 2016 total
• 2 teens shot 4 times, 6 minutes apart on the Mountain overnight

A second 17-year-old was also shot four times. Both were rushed to hospital with serious injuries.

Mostacci said that when firefighters got to the scene Tuesday morning, they found smoke billowing out of the engine compartment of a Nissan Maxima.

If links exist between the two, police will uncover them.- Const. Jerome Stewart

"It sounds like there was nobody in the car at the time," he said. Firefighters doused the flames, and the scene was handed over to police for investigation.

Police Const. Jerome Stewart confirmed Wednesday afternoon that police are investigating the fire to see if it is "related to any of the recent shooting incidents."

"From my discussions with the detectives involved, in this short period of time, they do not know if the fire was deliberately set," Stewart said in an email. "With respect to the two incidents over the weekend, police are actively investigating them thoroughly. If links exist between the two, police will uncover them."

"We are in the preliminary stages and as such, police are unable to release any more details as they may jeopardize the investigation."

There have been 29 shootings so far this year in Hamilton, outpacing the 22 shootings in the city in all of 2016.

Five of those shootings happened in the last several days.

Police say all the shootings so far in 2017 have been "targeted," meaning that the victim and the shooter know each other or have some kind of connection.

They also believe many of them are tied to drugs, though many of the shootings are still under investigation.

adam.carter@cbc.ca