'I can assure you the downtown is very safe': Police promise more units downtown after series of attacks

Downtown residents, business owners and visitors are on edge Tuesday after a series of incidents that turned violent over the past few weeks.

“This problem seems to have at least become more prominent,” resident John Anthony told CTV News Windsor over the weekend. ”Whatever we're doing isn't necessarily doing enough.”

On Saturday morning, police responded to a random assault in the area of Park and Pelissier streets where police say a person was “the apparent victim of an unprovoked act of violence.”

“The victim approached the suspect who appeared to be in distress, and the suspect responded by seriously assaulting the victim,” said Windsor Police Service Acting Dep. Chief Jason Crowley. “The unpredictability of these unprovoked attacks are concerning for us.”

Sunday morning, police say a stabbing in the area of Ouellette and University avenues left one victim with serious injuries, adding the violence seems to be between individuals known to one another. The suspect in that case was arrested and police say he is expected to be charged with attempted murder.

A section of Ouellette Avenue has been closed as police investigate an ‘altercation’ downtown on Sunday, Sept. 4, 2022. (Chris Campbell/CTV News Windsor)

Another stabbing incident took place Sunday afternoon around 4:00 p.m. between people known to one another on Crawford Avenue near a grocery store. Police believe they are close to identifying the suspect.

“We came into work on Sunday there was three people in ICU,” said Staff Sgt. Dave Tennent during a media briefing Tuesday. “[The injuries] are serious, but we expect everybody to survive.”

The weekend before, seemingly unprovoked assaults in the core were filmed and posted to social media. Police have arrested and charged five suspects in the high profile case.

“I can tell you that September has been a busy month for us in the downtown core. It's our busiest month of 2022,” says Crowley.

Regular police activity and the volume of violent incidents downtown over the past month has residents concerned for their safety.

“With thousands of students down here and bars who want business, it's not very conducive to that kind of thing,” says Zander Kelly, a student at St. Clair College.

His classmate, Amelia Willson, says she’s been followed to the bus stop a few times on her way to and from school, and now carries a personal alarm as protection.

“It's kind of sad that we have to carry around little tiny devices where it sets off alarms or has a little knife in it or something just to kind of keep our minds at ease,” Willson says.

Crowley looked to reassure residents Tuesday that police are doing everything they can to keep the community safe.

“There have been some concerns and questions how safe the downtown is and I can assure you the downtown is very safe,” says Crowley, noting while it’s been a busy number of weeks, historical data on “crimes against persons” is trending downwards.

According to Crowley, the 10-year average for that category is 8.75 incidents per month. But this year, that number is down to 6.11 crimes against people per month.

Crowley says in response, police have increased resources, including the deployment of the Problem-Oriented Policing Unit (POP) and other units to the downtown area. Police hope the increased police presence will help proactively deter violent acts.

“The businesses and I think that residents really like to see it and they'll be there for some time for sure,” says Crowley.

— With files from CTV News Windsor’s Chris Campbell