shawn michael yalowica › deadmonton 2006 › deadmonton › edmonton

Shawn Michael Yalowica, 19, was shot to death June 20th, 2006.

Case status is open and active.

On June 20th, 2006 at about 12:45 a.m. two men walked into the Laser Express Karaoke club at 3432 99 Street.

Once inside, the two had a brief conversation with two other men already in the club.

The first pair left the club and the other soon followed.

Gunfire then erupted and what was described as "a hail of bullets" hit one of the men who had just arrived and also shattered the front windows of the club.

Numerous patrons inside the club made 911 calls as they dove for cover.

Police arrived at 12:50 a.m. and found Shawn Michael Yalowica, 19, lying dead inside the doorway of the club.

Witnesses said the gunman and his accomplice fled in a waiting car.

The dead man's friend, who was not injured, provided police with a description of the shooter.

Police consider the incident to be gang-related and homicide detectives are being aided by the gang unit.

Yalowica's death, the eleventh homicide of 2006, came two days after the slaying of Michael Robert Rieger.

Police also consider Reiger's death to be gang-related but have not made any connection between the two murders.

Reiger was shot near the Kings Knight Pub, located seven blocks east of the karaoke club.

An autopsy performed June 21st confirmed Yalowica died of a gunshot wound.

Detectives also made it clear Yalowica did not appear to be directly involved with a gang but was with persons known to be associated with gang activity.

Shawn Yalowica was apprenticing as a carpenter, working as a drywaller for two of his family's companies at the time of his death.

While Yalowica might have died in what police have termed a gang-related shooting, his family said he was no gangster.

Speaking to the media, Shawn's older brother Darcy said, "He wasn't involved with a gang, I guarantee you that. My guess is that he either got caught in crossfire or he was hanging out with a buddy that was involved in a gang."

On the night of the shooting, Shawn was the designated driver.

Darcy Yalowica said his brother "was an awesome individual. He was hard-working and he stayed out of trouble. [He was] an excellent uncle to his nephew and three nieces."

The Laser Express Karaoke club was the scene of another violent attack that occured on February 24th, 1998.

A 20-year-old man suffered gunshot wounds to the chest and one leg while two other men, aged 25 and 28, had minor stab wounds, one of them to the head.

Police were hampered in their investigations because witnesses and victims were non-cooperative, the staff at the club cleaned up the scene, and a machete believed used was wiped clean.

More recently, in September 2005 gunshots were fired through a plate-glass window at the club after a customer was kicked out. No one was hurt in that incident.

Then on March 15th, 2007 a 23-year-old man was the target of several shots fired outside the troubled club.

The victim was known to police and it was believed the incident was gang-related. "Neither the victim nor the witnesses are being particularly co-operative,” a police spokesman said.

Another karaoke club nearby was the scene of a murder that took the life of Don Huu Huy Pham, a 21-year-old University of Alberta business student.

Police were called out to the Now & Us Karaoke bar at 3925 99 Street early in the morning of May 2nd, 2004.

Pham was found stabbed in the chest during a brawl that involved up to 50 people. Four other men were sent to hospital with stab wounds.

Pham was the city's ninth homicide victim of 2004.

On May 8th, 2004 Clinton Mackenzie Main, 20, accompanied by his lawyer, turned himself in to police.

Main was charged with aggravated assault, attempted murder and possession of a weapon -- but was not charged in the killing of Pham during the same incident.

Police are still investigating Pham's death and have said it was not gang-related.

In June 2002, the Now & Us Karaoke bar was also the site of a gang-related shooting that injured three men.

deadmonton 2006 - shawn michael yalowica