Financial Post
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Five young Somali men have been shot and killed in the Edmonton area since August. The latest victim, a man in his 20s, was shot in the neck. He was found about 6:40 a.m. and had surgery. He was in stable condition Tuesday afternoon. The man is not talking with police and spokesman Dean Parthenis said detectives have no suspects.
The victim's white Subaru was found still running, parked in front of the Lizard Lounge with the driver's door open. The tinted window was shattered. Drops of blood marked the victim's unsteady progress across the parking lot and out into the traffic circle.
Michelle Mackereth's Domo shop sits metres from the car, but she said she didn't hear anything until she looked up and found the building surrounded by police.
"It's scary as hell, just for the simple fact that I had no idea what was going on, and I was right here," Mackereth said.
Officers behind the strip mall studied a set of footprints down the centre of the alley, then surrounded a nearby three-storey apartment building. Tactical officers were called in and for more than an hour residents were prevented from entering or leaving, though no arrests were made.
Parthenis said this victim is known to the gang unit here and moved recently from Eastern Canada.
Somali community leader Mahamad Accord said his cellphone started ringing with news about the latest shooting at 6:45 a.m.
Last week, community leaders met with the chief of police to ask for help to stop the violence. They say none of the recent victims were locals.
Accord said police told him many of the victims are members of a low-level, unsophisticated but violent gang who came recently to Edmonton.
"There is something going on but we don't have a feel of it. We are in the dark," Accord said. "This problem is Ontario's problem. We need help from the federal government."
A local imam organized a meeting with all local Somali groups Tuesday night to talk about the problem; about 30 men attended. The unity among the normally divided community is a bright spot, said Accord. "It's the first time such a thing is happening."
The recent round of shootings started Aug. 30 when Mohamed Ali Ibrahim, 24, of Toronto, was shot to death outside the River Cree Casino.
Nasir Mohamed Said, 22, also of Toronto, was found dead Sept. 16 at Balwin School, and on Oct. 31, Toronto resident Abas Akubar, 21, was found shot to death in a field.
On Dec. 2, two young Somalis were found shot dead in separate incidents. Abdul Kadir Mohamoud, 23, was found dead in Grand Trunk Park and Ahmed Mohammed Abdirahman, 21, was shot outside a townhouse complex at 148th Avenue and 89th Street.
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