Owner responds to gunfire with message of peace

At least nine bullet holes in the window of the Al Omara café and lounge the business on concession street was still open when shots rang out.

Police say this is the second shooting in the plaza this year, and it was also the second shooting in the city in less than 12 hours. That’s why Omar Bataineh, the owner of Al Omara responded and put up a positive message that’s reads “Spread love, spread kindness, spread light and more peace”. The message was put up in the broken window of the second floor business Bataineh says he didn’t want to look at the bullet holes anymore.

In surveillance video CHCH obtained earlier this week, a car can be seen pulling up across the street from the plaza at the time of the shooting, someone is then seen lying in the middle of the road they get up, pick up something off the ground, and run away, followed by the car.

We reached out to Hamilton police, but there was no update to the case. As for the positive message, Bataineh says it’ll likely stay up even when the window is fixed.