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Police continue to investigate the death of a man following a shooting on Monday in the parking lot of the North Hill Co-op in the city’s northeast, saying they believe the incident was connected to organized crime.
According to a Tuesday news release, officers responded to numerous reports of shots fired at 520 16 Ave. N.E. just before 8 p.m. on Monday.
Upon arrival, police said two men were found suffering from gunshot wounds and were transported to hospital. One man was declared deceased on Monday, while the other remains in stable condition, police said.
“This is a targeted event,” homicide unit Staff Sgt. Mike Shute said at a press conference Tuesday.
“We believe it’s related to organized crime, and unfortunately … this is certainly something that comes with growing cities is gangs, organized crime, guns, drugs and other events.”
Shute said police are working to prevent any potential retaliatory acts of violence.
Police have identified the deceased victim as 35-year-old Leslie Babajid Cole.
Shute said Cole was known to police.
Police say they are looking for two suspects in the shooting at 520 16 Ave. N.E. that occurred on Monday just before 8 p.m. (Elizabeth Withey/CBC)
Meanwhile, he said the surviving victim was not known to the deceased, and is not believed to be involved in the shooting.
“He was caught in an ongoing active shooting and he attempted to flee that area to safety and he ended up being shot in the process,” Shute said of the surviving victim.
Shute said investigators are looking for two suspects, and no one is in custody at this time.
There is no active risk to the public, he added.
‘A brazen daylight shooting’
DJ Kelly, the city councillor for the area, told reporters on Tuesday he lives a couple of blocks away from the North Hill Co-op, and he had visited the store earlier in the day before the shooting occurred.
He said community members have “every right to be scared right now.”
“A brazen daylight shooting like this, a targeted attack, is incredibly rare in Calgary, but it happened in our neighbourhood,” Kelly said.
WATCH | Police respond to shooting in northeast Calgary on Monday:
Police investigating fatal shooting in Co-op parking lot
One man is dead following a shooting in the parking lot of the North Hill Co-op in the city’s northeast on Monday. According to a news release, officers responded to numerous reports of shots fired at 520 16th Ave. N.E. just before 8 p.m.
Mayor Jeromy Farkas said the incident demonstrates why public safety has to remain city council’s “top priority,” and efforts to address it should extend citywide.
“Public safety and the issues that we’re seeing right now and the challenges we’re seeing around law enforcement, it’s not just a downtown issue; it is something that impacts every single Calgarian,” Farkas told reporters on Tuesday.
Shute said he understands the community’s concerns about public safety, but emphasized that public shootings such as this one are “infrequent.”
“I don’t think there’s an ongoing threat that people have to be concerned, with bullets flying throughout the city of Calgary,” Shute said. “This is a targeted event, and unfortunately somebody was the victim involved in that.”