Teen dead in Ottawa's 20th homicide of 2016

Ottawa police are investigating the city's 20th homicide of the year after a 17-year-old boy was found shot in an SUVin Hintonburg Tuesday night and later died.

It happened on Bayswater Avenue near Laurel Street at about 10:40 p.m., police said.

The victim identified by police as Leslie Mwakio was taken to the Ottawa Hospital's Civic campus trauma unit with life-threatening injuries, but later died.

Jay Baltz of the Hintonburg Community Associationtweeted images of a silver Jeep Patriot at the crime scene with the front driver-side window shot out.

Police were also seen going into Vibe Bistro & Lounge at the corner of Bayswater and Somerset Street W.nearby, Baltz tweeted.

A man was shot on the business's propertyin 2013, but survived. In October, shots were fired on Somerset Street W. near Bayswater but no one was injured.

'Very, very loud bangs'

KarlaHilton, a senior producer at CBC Ottawa, lives on Bayswater just 50 metres away from the crime scene. Hilton said she and her family were getting ready for bed when they heardloud shots.

"Everyone was upstairs except for me, I was on the computer. And I heard very, very loud bangs, probably four, in quick succession. ... And my kids were upstairs, they both yelled, 'What was that?'" Hilton recalled Wednesday morning.

Hilton went to the window but couldn't see or hear anything. She stuck her head out the front doorand looked down the street but said it was very quiet.

She turned off their Christmas lights thenwent upstairs to bed. Police and paramedics arrived minutes later. A short while latera large group of residents gathered outside, including Coun. Jeff Leiper.

"What's troubling about this is that this is a street that's used by a lot of people, a lot of pedestrians. ... There are lots of people on this street all the time. The fact that this happened when someone else could have been walking by is very, very concerning," Hilton said.

Concerns about Vibe Bistro & Lounge

Justin Van Leeuwen, who lives with his family on Laurel Street, said he was woken up by "five or six loud pops."

"I didn't want to believe what it was... It woke me up. It was loud," he said.

"Knowing that someone was murdered in their car, essentially in front of my house, was terrifying. That kind of violence ... maybe one person is targeted but that's the kind of thing that can easily go awry, astray."

Van Leeuwen said he wants to know what the response to ongoing violent incidents in the area will be.

"Can you have uniformed officers outside of a known gang violent place 24 hours a day? Does that seem unreasonable at this point?," he asked.

"I'm scared, I'm sad, I'm worried about what Ottawa city's response is to this. ... My selfish concern is, what are you doing about Vibe Lounge in my neighbourhood right now?"

People are blaming the club unfairly, said the manager of Vibe Bistro & Loungein response to requests the club be shut down.

He pointed out the vehicle the teenager was found in was not parked outside his business.

Kitchissippi Coun.Jeff Leiper said the city cannot order a business to close but saidhe plans to work with police to increase their presence in the neighbourhood.

'It's going to continue to happen'

Daniel Sykes, who also lives with his family on Bayswater just metres from the crime scene, said he's not surprised by the homicide given the crime trends in the area.

"I think that anybody would be annoyed when they're hearing gunshots just feet away from their front window where they're sleeping, where their family is. I wish I could say I'm surprised but I'm not. It's been happening and it's going to continue to happen until something changes," he said.

"It's difficult for us to do anything. I don't see what the community can do. There's been talk of a neighbourhood watch but what is a neighbourhood watch going to do against people with guns? We need police presence here. That's what we are going to require in order to feel safe here, because this is a shooting that's happening steps from my front door."

Sykes said he likely won't attend an upcoming community meeting about starting a neighbourhood watch.

"I really don't see what we as residents of this community can reasonably be expected to do. This isn't a problem that we are equipped to handle."