gangland-style shooting inside a Calgary restaurant early Sunday killed a man and woman who were both in their early twenties, police said. Two other young men were injured during the shootout, which occurred in a strip mall in the city's northeast end. One of the injured is in critical, but stable, condition. "It's believed one or more male persons entered the restaurant, walked directly to the table and committed the crime," said Calgary police Insp. Frank Reuser. He added that police have no suspects, but there were "numerous witnesses." Calgary Police Staff Sgt. Kevin Forsen said the killings carry some of the hallmarks of a gang hit. "Right now it appears to be very consistent with a targeted shooting that involves gangs," he told The Canadian Press. "It was very sudden and there were no precursors that we know of." Forsen added that the investigation is still in its early stages as police work to establish a motive and find out how many shooters were involved. "We're still trying to determine why this would have happened," he said, adding that the victim's identities were also unknown Sunday afternoon. About 30 officers were on the scene early Sunday, interviewing people who watched the shooting.
CTV Calgary's Shelly Makrugin said the neighbourhood has had problems with vandalism and drug dealing, but the strip mall has never seen gang violence. Earlier this month, another shooting at a city restaurant injured four men and a woman.
Local residents living near the strip mall said they were concerned about escalating violence in the community. "We're moving away," resident Jean Tremblay told CTV Calgary. "I'm in the buying process but it's not going to be in this area. I'm going to look for any 'for sale' signs but it's not going to be here. My mind is made up."
Andre Chabot, the local alderman, said the problem of violent crime is affecting the entire city. "We as a city are way understaffed (by police) on a per capita basis, compared to other large municipalities," he said.