Since the start of the year, there have been 22 shootings in Hamilton.

Police Chief Frank Bergen said its an increase the city hasn’t seen since 2019.

“What, in fact, is really alarming about what is occurring in the last couple weeks is this reckless disregard for public safety as we’re seeing,” he said while holding a press conference Wednesday.

“These are happening at any hours of the day, in many cases during broad daylight.”

Earlier this month, a daytime shoot-out rocked a central Hamilton neighbourhood after three men exchanged gunfire — one of them from a car that then crashed into a parked vehicle while fleeing the scene.

Miraculously, no one was hurt — even though a 5-year-old had been walking through the alleyway just moments before the shooting began, a detail revealed to the public during the news conference Wednesday.

An investigation that followed the incident led detectives to find bullets lodged in nearby homes, garages, cars and on roadways.

READ MORE: Police share photos of 2 men wanted in central Hamilton shooting

Two of the suspects who were on foot from that day have had their images circulated by police, but they remain at large. The third suspect, the driver of the crashed vehicle, also remains outstanding.

Homeowner discovers spent casings near Maplewood Avenue

The following Friday, just four days after the shoot-out occurred, another shooting took place off Sherman Avenue.

However, police were unable to confirm it had even happened until Monday.

READ MORE: Hamilton police investigate shooting near Sherman Avenue

Initially, police said online that they were called out to a home near Main Street East and Sherman Avenue around midnight on May 17 after a resident made a report of hearing gunfire.

The responding officers found no evidence, victims or witnesses to back up those claims until Monday.

On May 20, a homeowner who had been away returned to their home and found several spent bullet casings on their property. Their discovery re-ignited the investigation.

Police waited until Tuesday to make a public appeal seeking witnesses.

That same evening, CHCH News acquired a printed letter from the department stating that the shooting had occurred on Maplewood Avenue rather than Main Street, a discrepancy of a city block.

All of this falls on the backdrop of an even earlier shooting that took place on May 6 that injured an innocent bystander.

Shooting near East Avenue injures innocent bystander

That shooting unfolded in an alleyway off of East Avenue North by King Street when two people fired multiple shots at each other just before noon.

Surveillance video captured part of the exchange.

One man has been arrested in connection to that shooting, while another remains at large.

READ MORE: 21-year-old Hamilton man wanted by police for shooting that struck innocent bystander

Wanted from that day is 21-year-old Jonas Campanaro, who was previously arrested and charged with first-degree and attempted murder.

Anyone with information on his whereabouts is urged to contact police by phoning 905-546-4883.

Alternatively, anonymous tips facilitated through Crime Stoppers can pay up to $2,000 per successful arrest.