BEDFORD, N.S. -- Eighteen shootings have occurred in the Halifax area so far this year -- nearly the same number that happened during all of last year.

Data provided by Halifax Regional Police show there have been more shootings in the first four and a half months of 2021 than in several previous years.

Year

HRP

2017

11

2018

16

2019

11

2020

21

2021 ytd    

18

The latest occurred Thursday night around 11 o’clock in Bedford near Broad Street and Farrington Way. 

Sue LeBel, who lives nearby, heard the gunshots. 

"I heard four or five in a row. And then there was a pause and then I heard two or three more," she said. 

Police responded to find a man suffering from a life threatening gunshot wound. 

"At this point I understand he’s still being treated in hospital but I don’t have any details as to his status," said Const. John MacLeod with the Halifax Regional Police.

MacLeod said police do not believe shooting was random or linked to any other recent shootings. No one has been arrested.

On Wednesday, 22-year-old Tyler Algee was shot in a park near Alderney Landing in Dartmouth. He died of his injuries. His family is devastated. 

"Tyler had one of the biggest hearts. He would help anybody. He would protect anybody that’s weak," said his stepfather, Robert Keough."And he just cared about getting a message across about love and peace. He was a big believer in life after death."

Police have charged 23-year-old Justin Ronald Adams-Clarke of Elmsdale with second degree murder and possession of a weapon in relation to Algee’s death.

"Nothing will ever be enough. My son is gone," Keough said. "People need to know he was loved. He came from a place of love. He was the product of love and we are all hurting right now. And we can’t make sense out of nonsense."