Police have made an arrest in connection with a fatal shooting in the south end of Saint John on the weekend.
Matthew Thomas Foley, 50, is facing a charge of second-degree murder after a 31-year-old man was killed Saturday night.
Saint John police responded to a report of shots fired in the city’s south end around 8 p.m. Saturday. When they arrived on the scene, they found the victim’s body at the corner of Pitt and Leinster Streets.
The victim’s name has not been released but police say he and his attacker were known to one another.
According to reports, Foley is the president of the Bacchus Motorcycle Club, but police will not confirm that. They also won’t say whether the shooting is biker-related, but forensic officers spent most of Monday scouring a building owned by the Bacchus Motorcycle Club.
The clubhouse is on Pitt Street, just a few doors away from where the fatal shooting took place, although police won’t comment on the connection between the building and the shooting.
Bullet holes were found in the siding of two buildings in the area and residents are shaken up.
“There have been some problems in the past, but this, this type of shooting is very unusual and very upsetting for the community for sure,” says neighbour John Campbell.
“This incident is one in a few, and it’s a shame that it happened,” says Roy. “We don’t know what happened, but I know these people are good people.”
However, one man who owns an apartment building in the area shares a different view on the presence of the clubhouse in the neighbourhood.
“In the five years that we rented them out we’ve had nothing but trouble with the Bacchus,” says the man, who declined to give his name. “It’s daily. I’ve dealt with the city of Saint John and tried to get them out of here.”
Foley is due back in court next month to have a date set for a preliminary hearing.
With files from CTV Atlantic's Mike Cameron
