Investigation continues into shooting outside restaurant

EDMONTON - A northside Earls restaurant was closed for business on Sunday, as police continue to investigate a brazen, daylight shooting that happened outside the eatery a day earlier.

"We saw three guys walk out, and all of a sudden: 'boom, boom, boom, boom, boom,'" said Greg Maughan, who heard the shots while at the restaurant with his fiance on Saturday afternoon. "It sounded like fireworks at first, and then somebody said that someone has a gun, so we hit the deck as we heard the last shots go off."

Two brothers in their late 20s were just leaving the restaurant, when they were shot at by a man in his 20s in the parking lot. A third man, who was with the victims at the time, was not injured.

Both victims were rushed to hospital, with one of them requiring immediate surgery. They remained in hospital on Sunday, but are expected to recover from their injuries. Neither of the three men are cooperating with police, though.

After firing the shots, the suspect fled to a car and drove off. He is described by police as Caucasian, and was wearing grey sweat pants, black gloves, a black hoodie and red t-shirt at the time of the shooting.

Sarah Hoy, an Earls employee, was about to pull into the parking lot to start her shift when she saw all the police tape. She says that even though she's heard some negative things about nearby neighbourhoods, she was shocked to learn that there had been a shooting outside her workplace. "This is senseless for someone to do this in a public place, where there's families and so many people around. It really doesn't make sense to me."

In less than a week, police have been called to two homicides, bringing Edmonton's murder count to 22 - the highest in Canada.

Retired criminologist, Keith Spencer, blames the escalating violence on a growing city and drug trade. "These aren't random. They're mostly people who know each other," Spencer said.

Police don't want people being concerned for their safety, though, and believe, like most of Edmonton's shootings, Saturday's shooting was targeted. "Given that these two males seemed to be approached right as they were leaving, and there weren't any other people that were targeted, it leads us to believe this was not a random shooting," said EPS spokesperson, Clair Seyler. She also said both of the victims are known to police, who have been interviewing dozens of witnesses.

Still, Spencer believes even targeted attacks can be dangerous for the general public if someone gets caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. "I think it doesn't have the same urgency to it unless it happens in midday, in general public, and that can get a little dangerous because you can get accidental spin-off. I remember in Montreal a few years ago, when they had all that drug action - it wasn't until they had a young child who was shot and killed that people took it seriously. Because as long as it's 'them' and out of sight, it's not so urgent for people."

Anyone with information on this shooting is asked to call police at 780-423-4567.