Halifax police continue to search for a suspect in a shooting at a Dartmouth, N.S., tent encampment. On Wednesday, police were called to the Green Road Park encampment around 2:30 p.m. and they found a 33-year-old man who was shot. The victim was taken to hospital in serious condition. There was no update on his condition Thursday. Police are saying very little except that the shooting doesn’t appear to be random and they aren’t sharing any details about the suspect at this time. “Investigators have been speaking to witnesses, reviewing video from the area and collecting evidence,” said Marla MacInnis, communication manager with the Halifax Regional Police. “Police are following leads but are not sharing suspect information at this time.” Encampment resident PJ McKay said she was helping clean out a friend’s tent who had moved out of the Green Park Road encampment when she heard a loud bang. “You hear a gunshot, you lay low, you don’t show your face, because if you’re a witness, you could be the one to get the next bullet,” said McKay. This is the second shooting at the encampment this year. McKay also heard that shooting, which happened in February and sent a man to hospital. “I doubt it will be the last time,” said McKay. Despite the gun violence, McKay isn’t frightened for her own safety but she does wish she could find a permanent home. “I am hoping I can get some better help,” said McKay, who has lived in the encampment for more than three years after losing her apartment. Jeff Karabanow, a Dalhousie professor of social work who researches homelessness, says encampments are unsafe and those who live in them are particularly vulnerable to violence. “Folks that are living on the streets, who are unhoused, are extremely vulnerable and at risk to violence,” said Karabanow. “All the research has highlighted that folks that are unhoused are much more at risk of being victim to or having some form of physical or sexual attack upon the rather than being the perpetrators of these crimes.” There are now just two municipally sanctioned encampments in the Halifax area: Green Park Road and the Barrington Street green space. The Green Park Road location is sanctioned for eight tents, but there are 19 tents and three trailers on site. While encampments aren’t safe, Karabanow says they were never meant to be a long-term housing solution either. “I think we all know what the correct trajectory would be, right?” said Karabanow. “And that is some form of supportive and or social housing that’s affordable, that’s safe, that’s cared for. They are being built, but it’s taken much, much longer than I think anybody ever anticipated.” For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page
