Police were called to the 1600 block of low-traffic Cowan Crescent last week in south Regina for an attempted robbery with a gun, an incident that scared the neighbourhood.
“I feel unsafe, I’m terrified,” said Richie, a Cowan Crescent resident, who declined to provide her last name. “Whoever did it they should also be thinking that . . . mostly around this area [we] have little children . . . we look after each other. There should be more police coming around, things happen around two [a.m.], when people are in their deep sleep.”
The victim was parked in their vehicle late Saturday night when approached by two men, according to Regina Police Service. They demanded the victim give them the vehicle and discharged the weapon. They were unable to seize the vehicle and fled in a dark SUV. The victim did not suffer injuries.
“This is the first thing that’s ever happened,” said Joe Dauk, a Cowan Crescent resident. “But with that one on Sinton Avenue that’s pretty close to just across Albert Street from us, so it’s all over the city.”
Dauk was referencing Regina’s sixth murder of 2018, which took place Oct. 23 in south Regina, and led to 22 year-old Austin Thomas Yates being charged with second-degree murder in the death of Miguel Lucas Antoan Lane.
The latest RPS firearms report, from August 2018, says that 17 violent gun crimes took place in that month, compared to six in August 2017. There were 107 violent gun crimes between January and August 2018, an increase of 28.9% compared to the 83 occurrences in the same time frame in 2017.
“I think there’s a lot more gun violence then there was the last while,” said Lorraine Mickler, another Cowan Crescent resident. “Usually it was knives, now it’s more guns. We’re hearing about more crime, there’s more crime in the south end of the city . . . I’ve lived here most of my life and it just wasn’t an area that you saw a lot of violent crime.”
Earlier Saturday night a man was shot on the 3500 block of 13th Avenue. He sustained non-life threatening injuries and was released from hospital Sunday. Police believe the two crimes may be related.
On Sunday an armed robbery took place in a residence on the 2000 block of Broder Street. One man in the attempted carjacking wore a red bandana – one suspect in the Broder Street robbery wore a bandana. The suspects left Broder Street in a dark-coloured vehicle.
