Hamilton Police are searching for a suspect following a shooting at the corner of King Street and James Street in Downtown Hamilton that occurred at approximately 5:25 p.m. Friday.1
“Just before 5:30 p.m., Hamilton Police received information about gunshots in the area of King and James,” stated Hamilton Police Inspector Greg Doerr on scene Friday evening. “Police responded en masse.”
“We located two victims. One was pronounced dead on scene, the other was transported to General Hospital.”
Police later confirmed the deceased victim is a female, and the injured male was taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Doerr said police are searching for one suspect, who was last seen fleeing on foot northbound on James Street.
“At this point, we don’t have a description [of the suspect].”
As of 9:00 a.m. on Saturday, July 12, there is no available suspect description.
Police Reviewing Security Camera Video
The intersection of King Street and James Street is Hamilton’s ‘main’ intersection. It is both the east/west and north/south dividing line for street names.
Dozens of security cameras, including at least two Hamilton Police operated cameras, are filming the intersection at any time.
Both HSR and GO Transit buses are equipped with numerous external cameras.
Doerr stated Hamilton Police are reviewing recordings.
An update from Hamilton Police is expected to be issued on Saturday.
Canada’s Youth Criminal Justice Act effectively prohibits Hamilton Police from releasing any images of the suspect if there are reasons to believe they are under the age of 18.
Federal Liberal MP Responds to Shooting: Says Government May Implement Bail and Youth Crime Reforms
Hamilton Centre Member of Parliament Aslam Rana came to the shooting scene after hearing reports from community members.
He said the shooting is “not acceptable in our community and our streets.”
“We were trying our best, our Prime Minister, Mark Carney, our government and the team, we are trying our best to make our streets safe and sound.”
Rana says the Liberal government will be “bringing more legislation” to make laws “tougher” for repeat offenders.
Asked about the Youth Criminal Justice Act and the increasing danger communities are facing from youth committing shootings and violent robberies, Rana stated Parliament only sat for “four weeks this session” and when Parliament returns to session in September that he’ll “definitely” be working on these issues.
Production Details
v. 1.0.0
Published: July 12, 2025
Last updated: July 12, 2025
Author: Joey Coleman
Update Record
v. 1.0.0 original version
- At approximately 17:23:26, Hamilton public transit (HSR) real-time open data logged bus #1101 operating on Route 1A located at 31 King Street East. The 17:25:10 data report located the bus at the King and James stop where the shooting occurred. ↩︎
This shooting incident is a terrible jolt for Hamiltonians. Hamilton’s downtown is ‘rough and ready’ but it has many stand-out places frequented by citizens – the large Central Branch library and the amazing Farmers’ Market, plus hotels, shops, entertainment venues and restaurants in the area. I hope this brazen daylight targeted shooting will not stop people from continuing to enjoy the downtown area.
I just wished people of all ages would not have a way to access guns to open fire to random people in our city. We need better control of how things are handled regardless of age. The art crawl was just starting happen at the time of the shooting and many people work nearby in the offices in jackson square and nearby locations. Also when they alert people inside jackson square isn’t the worst place to be is outside verses in lockdown inside the mall? Or other nearby locations unaffected by where the shooter could be? I dunno. The city should work on lockdown being safer for all people who could be innocent targets. Maybe make a safe place to go when things like these happen. (Not outside where the issue is happening) I hope they find the person involved in all this and my condolences to the families/friends of the victims.