October 26, 2008

Calgary, Alberta (Country: Canada)

The woman killed in a hail of bullets in a northeast restaurant early Sunday morning.

Kong was sitting at a table in the Food In East Restaurant with four men about 3:50 a.m. on Sunday when one or more gunmen walked in and opened fire.

Kong was pronounced dead at the scene, along with one of her companions.

Two other men at the table were injured.

One remains in hospital in critical condition after being shot in the torso while the other suffered a minor gunshot wound to the neck.

A fourth man sitting at the table wasn't hit and escaped unharmed.

Police interviewed as many as 20 witnesses who were in and around the restaurant at the time, but have not identified any suspects or a motive.

Calgary restaurant shooting leaves two dead

CALGARY — A man and a woman, both in their early 20s, are dead after a shooting inside a Calgary restaurant that police suspect could be gang-related.

The shooting in a northeast neighbourhood early Sunday also left two young men wounded, including one who was in critical but stable condition.

Police said a fifth person at the table inside the Food in East restaurant, which is located in a strip mall was not hurt.

“Right now it appears to be very consistent with a targeted shooting that involves gangs, ” said Calgary police Staff Sgt. Kevin Forsen. “It was very sudden and there were no precursors that we know of.”

Staff Sgt. Forsen said the names of the victims are not known to police and the motive for the shooting is not clear. “We're still trying to determine why this would have happened,” he said.

Staff Sgt. Forsen said no one was in custody and it's not known how many people carried out the shooting.

Several witnesses were to be interviewed and about 30 officers were involved in the investigation.

The killings followed a shooting at another restaurant in Calgary earlier this month that left four men and a woman injured. The motive for that attack was unclear.

John Mar, an inner-city alderman, said at the time that the shooting at the downtown business was another example of escalating violence in a city that wasn't prepared for an economic boom and a corresponding rise in crime.