The chair of the Downtown Windsor Business Improvement Association is asking for an emergency meeting about the safety of the city’s core after a fatal stabbing over the weekend.
Gautham (Kevin) Kugathasan, 19, a University of Windsor student died following an altercation between two groups of men near Pelissier Street and University Avenue.
“It’s a shame that things like this happen,” says DWBIA chair Larry Horwitz. “Residents become nervous, businesses lose money and people are concerned about the downtown community.”
Horwitz has requested a meeting between Windsor’s police chief, mayor and the Downtown Windsor Neighbourhood Committee on Wednesday.
“We’re going to have a special emergency meeting to go over possible alternatives to how things are handled downtown,” says Horwitz.
Horwitz is stressing the need for a better exit strategy after bars close on the weekends.
“In terms of an exit strategy, the general problem comes about from having so many kids intoxicated. In incidents like this, there are proactive, preventative methods of dealing with exit strategies,” says Horwitz.
Horwitz says one concern is the timing of police shifts.
“Right now there’s a shift change and it ends at 3 a.m., when the bars really empty out at that time,” says Horwitz. “We believe the shift should end at 4 a.m., instead of 3.”
Police say the fatal confrontation on Saturday took place around 2 a.m. It continued for a block and resulted in multiple stabbings and several people hurt.
“We have double the compliment, on the road downtown, every Thursday, Friday and Saturday night," says Chief Al Frederick.
The chief says some shifts do end at 3 a.m., but others at 7 a.m. He also says many officers were present during this latest incident of violence.
"I don't want to call this an anomaly, but this was an extreme violent event,” says Frederick.
Both Mayor Eddie Francis and the chief say they will meet with stakeholders to discuss concerns.
"We are not going to deplete city-wide coverage for downtown,” says Francis. “There has to be balance."
Francis added that the issue extends beyond just policing.
“There's one way that the BIA can help - when was the last time they stopped $2 shots or $2 well drinks?" said Francis.
Francis says he's also working on a city-wide program to improve lighting.
Lefty's Underground co-owner Mike Lambros says despite this latest act of violence, he feels downtown has grown safer.
"The police have more presence. I've noticed that the fights are down a lot," says Lambros.
Lambros says they have to come up with something to get the young adults out of the downtown core right after the bars close.
