downtown shooting possible payback? › september crime report › other police matters › deadmonton 2007 › deadmonton › edmonton

At about 2:30 a.m. September 16th, 2007 police were called out to a downtown nightclub after reports came in of shots fired.

The drive-by shooting took place outside the Element Lounge at 108076 106 Avenue just north of the Grant MacEwan College campus.

Edmonton police Sgt. Erik Johnson briefed media at the scene.

"Upon our arrival we found a victim who had been shot multiple times. At that time there were no suspects on the scene."

"EMS came in, treated the male at the scene here and transported him to hospital."

A male youth and an adult male were hit by shotgun fire with one of them being hit in the hand. They were reported as having serious but non-life threatening injuries.

Police interviewed a number of witnesses at the scene.

By the morning of September 17th, 2007 not much evidence remained of the shooting except for some shotgun shells on the ground.

However, details of the investigation published in the Edmonton Sun suggested the incident was payback for the Fulton Place Double Murder.

The Sun quoted Staff Sgt. Gail Denys as saying police were investigating whether the shooting was linked to the deaths of Farhan Hassan and Kasim Mohamed following a party at the Fulton Place community hall on September 2nd, 2007.

Denys said the attack seemed "retaliatory, possibly related to the [Fulton Place] homicides."

Police earlier indicated they did not believe the Fulton Place shootings to be gang or drug related. One merchant near the Element Lounge, who spoke to the Sun on condition of anonymity, said there was a lot of drug activity in the area.

An official police statement suggested there were no confirmed links to any other incidents. At last word no suspects had been identified.

deadmonton 2007 - september crime report - downtown shooting possible payback?