Five Days After the Shots, a Name and a Charge That Stops Short of Murder: Ottawa’s Guns and Gangs Unit Arrests Amin Osman-Ali, 33, and the Man Shot on the 1600 Block of Bank Street Is Still in Critical Condition (September 17, 2026)

OTTAWA — There is a name now. At 1:45 p.m. on Thursday, September 17, 2026, the Ottawa Police Service said it had arrested Amin Osman-Ali, 33, of Ottawa, that morning in connection with the shooting in the 1600 block of Bank Street five days earlier. He is charged with several firearms-related offences and aggravated assault. He appeared in court the same morning. And the man he is alleged to have shot — a man in his twenties — is still alive, and still in critical condition in hospital.

This site reported the shooting itself on September 12, when the only editorial signal in the file was which desk it had landed on. That has not changed: the tip line in Thursday’s release is still the Guns and Gangs Unit’s own extension, 613-236-1222 ext. 5050.

Aggravated Assault, Not Attempted Murder

The top Criminal Code count disclosed is aggravated assault. It is not attempted murder, and it is not discharging a firearm with intent. The Ottawa Police Service does not explain the choice, and this briefing will not guess at it: charges laid at the police stage are routinely revised by the Crown, and a man in critical condition may yet die, which would change the file entirely. What can be said is what the document says — that as of 1:45 p.m. on September 17, the most serious count the service has publicly attached to this shooting is aggravated assault.

The firearms side of the charge sheet is left as a plural. “Several firearms-related offences” could mean possession counts, discharge counts, prohibition breaches or storage counts, and the release distinguishes none of them. Nor does it say that a firearm was recovered. On the September 12 release the service published no weapon type and no recovery; on September 17 it still has not.

Five Days, and the Word the Service Still Will Not Use

The interval from the shooting to the arrest is five days — from just after 4:30 a.m. on Saturday, September 12 to the morning of Thursday, September 17. For a file with no published suspect description, no vehicle and no witness appeal beyond a tip line, that is a fast close.

What has not appeared in either release is the word targeted. The Ottawa Police Service has now issued two statements on this shooting and has not said whether it believes the victim was chosen. It names no gang, no street group, no criminal organization and no outlaw motorcycle club, and makes no association claim about either the accused or the man who was shot. The Guns and Gangs Unit’s involvement remains a fact about which desk holds the file and nothing more, and this briefing treats it that way.

What Is Still Not Reported

No itemised firearms charges and no count. No statement of whether a firearm was recovered, and no weapon type. No occurrence or file number in either release. No name, precise age or condition detail for the victim beyond “critical.” No address, business or premises within the 1600 block. No account of whether the man was found indoors, outdoors or in a vehicle. No number of shooters and no number of shots. No statement of how Osman-Ali was identified, where he was arrested, or whether anyone else is being sought. No bail outcome from the September 17 appearance and no next court date. No statement that the shooting was targeted. No gang, criminal organization or motorcycle club named anywhere in the file.

These allegations have not been tested in court, and Amin Osman-Ali is presumed innocent.