“There were ten shots that went through the house. They were aiming to kill.” Those were Marie’s words. Marie isn’t her real name. She was the victim of a sudden and brazen attack last Wednesday night. A sizable group – Marie saw “four or five people” – came up to her house and fired 10 bullets into her home.
“There were gunshots that went in through the window and went out through the wall,” Marie said. Taking a look around the home shows that she isn’t kidding. The windows are smashed, and there are bullet holes in the wall, in the furniture; two rounds even went through a brand-new leather couch.
The scariest thing for Marie and her family was the fact that her seven-month-old daughter was sleeping in a room less than 1.5 metres away from where the shots hit the house.
“Her crib is right against this wall,” says Marie, gesturing at the left-side wall of the bullet-ridden room. “I don’t need to go into her room and find a dead baby,” she says, choking back tears.
The assailants fled after the attack. On Friday, one of them, 18-year-old Dylan Jake Smith, was arrested on numerous weapons charges. The rest of the group is still at large.
Marie doesn’t think the police are doing enough. “The cops don’t have enough evidence to charge them with attempted murder. With that many shots, you’d think there would be,” she said. “He’s only being charged, basically, with weapons.”
Regina Police have not added additional charges or arrested any other suspects. “There’s no new information that we can report at this time,” said Regina Police Service spokesman Les Parker.
Marie and her family are still shocked. They don’t know why they were attacked. Her older teenage daughter is staying with friends, too scared to come home.
Marie spent two days in a hotel room after the attack while police combed through her home, and the family car was impounded late last week. While keeping up a brave face, she still has fears. “There’s one kid charged, and the rest are at large, so I don’t know. If they’re going to retaliate, and try and kill someone this time? I don’t know,” she said.
If you have any information about the attack or the attackers, Regina Police Services ask that you call them at 777-6500, or call Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-8477.
