The four-door black Pontiac G5 pulls up in the middle of the street on Oak Avenue, across from Barton Street East. The driver calmly gets out and closes the door.
He is wearing all black, a surgical mask that covers his face, and he carries something in his right hand: a pistol.
The gunman runs into the parking lot at the back of the Caribbean restaurant Allure Lounge, at the corner of Oak and Barton. He takes half a dozen steps before reaching a black BMW parked with the driver’s door open. He fire multiple shots directly to the man sitting in the car, identified by police as 23-year-old Donavan Hines.
As the shooter flees, the man in the car can be seen creaking and then at least four shots are fired to no avail through the front windshield. The first shooter is already moving away.
The whole thing, captured on surveillance video posted by Hamilton police, takes 23 seconds.
It was 5:10 pm and it was sunny on Wednesday, July 28. Allure’s backyard is just steps from where the shooting occurred. Customers and others walking down Barton Street ran for cover.
Hines was seriously injured in the shooting, but in an unusual move, the victim was also charged with multiple firearm offenses.
This shooting was not the first time Hines has been shot, nor is it the first time he has been charged in a shooting.
I shoot eight times
At a press conference shortly after the shooting, Det. Sergeant. Jason Cattle of the main criminal unit called the blatant shooting unacceptable.
The video shows the men shooting each other. It’s a daytime shooting on a busy Hamilton street.
The first shooter fired point-blank at Hines. He was already back in his car and on the run when the second series of shots was fired from inside the BMW. Hines’s view would have been blocked by a white minivan parked on the road. Those shots were made without aim.
When the police arrived on the scene, they didn’t know where those second shots had gone, they couldn’t even find the bullets. Detectives had to knock on the doors of the apartments across the street to make sure they hadn’t shot an innocent bystander.
“Innocent people are going to die here because of stupid children,” Cattle told The Spectator in a recent interview about gun violence.
Nearly four months after the shooting, police are still searching for the first shooter, described as a black male, five foot ten to six foot five. He was wearing a black hooded sweater with a logo / writing on the front, black pants, and a surgical mask.
“We are still investigating and trying to identify the shooter,” Cattle said.
Hines was shot eight times, including in the chest and legs. It’s a miracle that he survived, says his defense attorney.
Hines remains in jail, where he uses a wheelchair due to decreased range of motion in his right leg. He still has bullet fragments in his body. A bullet narrowly missed his heart.
“But by the grace of God, my client is alive,” said Peter Boushy.
If the case goes to trial, Boushy said he will “vigorously pursue self-defense” to fight the charges.
It’s not the first time
This is not the first time that Hines has been injured in a shootout. The viewer has confirmed that Hines was attacked in a shots from the car on Mohawk Road East, east of Upper James Street, in October 2020. He was injured but survived.
Before that shooting, Hines was charged with another case of shooting and robbery in March 2018. It happened just one block from where Hines was shot this summer.
In that case, Hines pleaded guilty to robbery, and his 19-year-old co-defendant pleaded guilty to intentionally firing a firearm. Hines was sentenced to two years less credit for pretrial custody, plus 12 months probation. His co-defendant, Akua Page, was sentenced to six years. A 17-year-old girl was also charged in the incident.
According to an agreed statement of events read in court, the then 20-year-old victim, Jhonier Rodríguez, was shot in the neck during a robbery. His injuries were not life-threatening.
Surveillance video in that case showed a trio entering a non-elevator apartment building at 267 Emerald St. N., on Barton Street East. Seconds later, the victim stumbled out with his hand on his neck and blood spilled onto the sidewalk.
The court heard that Hines knew the victim from high school. Rodriguez thought Hines was coming to “smoke a joint.” Instead, Hines pushed the victim against the wall, while Page pointed the gun. The victim slid her cell phone towards them, but the gun went off. Page was also accidentally shot in the arm.
Following that shooting, Hamilton police conducted a search to find the defendant and released his photo to the public.
On March 6, 2018, a day after the shooting and a few hours after police released Hines’s image, police went to a residence on Cedar Avenue, west of Gage Park. When the officers arrived, there was a “brief altercation” with two men, one of whom, according to police, was Hines.
At the time, the police alleged that Hines entered the residence and I escaped outside, while the police gathered outside. Hines was finally arrested in Toronto on March 14.
Emerald is just one block from Oak, where the blatant daytime shooting occurred in July.
The Oak shooting was one of 30 shootings in Hamilton this year. Police say there are more guns on the street. Many of these shootings involve impulsive young men from Hamilton who do not think about the consequences of their actions.
There have been 17 people injured in shootings in Hamilton in 2021, including seven killed.
Police are investigating the possible connection between a series of recent shootings on the Mountain. However, Cattle said there is no evidence that the Oak Avenue shooting is related to others.
Hines is charged with careless use of a firearm, unauthorized possession of a firearm, knowledge of unauthorized possession of a firearm, carrying a concealed weapon, occupant of a motor vehicle knowing there was a firearm, firing a firearm with intent and firing a firearm recklessly.
Anyone with information should call Det. Lisa Chambers of the Felony Unit at 905-546-3843.
To remain anonymous, contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or crimetoppershamilton.com.
Nicole O’Reilly is a Hamilton reporter covering crime and justice for The Spectator. Contact her by email: [email protected]
Reference-www.thestar.com