A brazen daylight shooting outside a busy northeast Calgary grocery store has left an innocent bystander in hospital and a city councillor outraged.
Emergency crews were called to the parking lot of the North Hill Co-op on 16 Avenue NE around 7:50 p.m. for reports of a shooting.
Officers arrived to find two men suffering from gunshot wounds. One later died in hospital.
Investigators believe the attack was targeted and linked to organized crime. In an update Tuesday, police said the man killed was known to police and was the intended target, but the second person is believed to have had no connection to the suspects or victim.
“This person is a complete innocent victim in the City of Calgary,” says CPS Staff Sgt. Mike Shute. “It is concerning when it is an innocent victim that may be just out for a daily walk, shopping, or going about their business.”
“He was not trying to intervene, he was not trying to assist. He was caught in an active shooting.”
Shute said the bystander tried to flee before he was struck. He remains in hospital in stable condition and is expected to make a recovery.
The deceased has since been identified through autopsy as 35-year-old Leslie Babajid Cole. He had an extensive criminal history, including several previous charges relating to weapons and drugs.
Shute said there were two active shooters involved in the event.
Suspects were seen fleeing the area, but no arrests have been made.
Councillor expresses outrage over brazen shooting
Ward 4 Coun. DJ Kelly, who lives only blocks from the grocery store, says the violence hit far too close to home. His home security camera captured the sound of gunfire, and his daughter narrowly avoided being in the parking lot at the time.
“My daughter, five minutes before the shots occurred, decided she would go to the grocery store and get something to eat,” Kelly said. “If it were not for infinite scroll on her cellphone, she would have been there at that exact time.”
Kelly delivered a blunt message to those responsible.
“To anybody who may know who these perpetrators are, may be harboring them, may be working with them, or for that matter, you may be the kind of person where this is the life you lead, get the f*** out of our city,” he said at city hall on Tuesday.
He emphasized that the shooting is “abnormal” for the neighbourhood and expressed confidence that Calgary police will track down those involved.
Shute also acknowledge the tensions that Calgarians may feel learning that a bystander was shot.
“These are very infrequent that we have innocent bystanders in Calgary being a victim of a shooting,” he said. “From my experience as a homicide detective, this isn’t something were looking at as a flare up between organized crime groups and that we are going to see an increase in haphazard shootings.”
“I don’t think there is an ongoing threat of people having to be concerned of bullets flying through Calgary.”
Police are asking anyone with information, or dashcam or CCTV footage from the area around the time of the incident, to contact them at 403‑266‑1234 or submit an anonymous tip to Crime Stoppers.