Two men are facing charges including attempted murder in relation to a shooting in west-end Halifax Tuesday afternoon.
Jermaine Beals, 25, and Alexander Downey, 28, were arrested on Owen Drive in Dartmouth around midnight yesterday, about 11 hours after a 23-year-old man was shot in the face inside the Bayers Park Apartments at 6969 Bayers Rd.
Police spokesman Const. Brian Palmeter said Wednesday the victim still isn’t co-operating with them, but they were able to make the arrests based on evidence found at the scene.
“Through the course of the investigation, we were able to retrieve evidence to allow for the suspects to be identified,” Palmeter said. “I can’t get into specifics about it, but basically it was solely on the efforts of the officers involved.”
Police were called to the nearby Petro Canada on Bayers Road at 1:32 p.m. Tuesday after the victim went inside the store and told staff he had been shot.
Police believe the shooting took place minutes earlier at the apartment complex behind the gas station.
Palmeter said the victim suffered an “apparent single gunshot wound” in a common area inside the multi-level complex.
Palmeter would only say the victim’s injuries were non-life threatening.
But Fairview resident Brian Clark told Metro he saw a man with a cut on his face walking in the opposite direction towards the gas station.
“When I looked at him I thought it was just a cut on the side of his face. He must have gotten winged or something (by the bullet),” Clark said, adding blood was coming down his shirt.
Palmeter said the victim is known to them and this wasn’t a random act. He said police have yet to determine a motive.
A day in court
• Jermaine Beals and Alexander Downey, both of Dartmouth, made a brief appearance Wednesday in Halifax Provincial Court. They’re each facing charges of attempted murder and weapons-related offences. The case has been held over until Thursday for a show cause hearing. Both were remanded to the Burnside jail.
• Beals is no stranger to the court system. In February, 2007 Beals was sentenced to 28 months in prison for aggravated assault. Three years earlier, he was handed a $300 fine for assaulting a peace officer.
