Edmonton -Two shot at club: Possible retaliation

17 September 2007
By NICKI THOMAS, AND BROOKES MERRITT, SUN MEDIA
Police suspect a shooting at a nightclub yesterday was retaliation for a horrific double homicide that claimed two members of the Somali community earlier this month.Cops were called to the Element Lounge at 10807 106 Ave. around 2:30 a.m. Because a man and teenage boy had been wounded.A witness said he saw shotgun shells on the ground following the shooting.Both victims were taken to hospital and are expected to recover.Staff Sgt. Gail Denys said police are investigating whether the shooting is linked to the Sept. 3 shooting deaths of Farhan Hassan, 27, and Kasim Mohamed, 28, following a party at the Fulton Place community hall Sept. 3.

Denys told Sun Media yesterday's attack seemed "retaliatory, possibly related to the (Fulton Place) homicides."Police have made no arrests in either incident.Len Untereiner of Edmonton's Spirit Keeper Youth Society, which works to keep youth out of gangs, says the violence is part of a trend among visible minority youth towards depression and feelings of hopelessness."Violence has been accepted as a lifestyle for many of these young men. These are kids who don't think of turning 30 or having a family, home or kids. They don't value their own lives - how can they be expected to value the lives of innocents?"

Untereiner said a growing number of kids feel as though they "have no future.""It doesn't matter if they are aboriginal or black or white or yellow, there are youth in Edmonton who think they have no more than two choices: grow up in prison, or die very young addicted to drugs and living on the street."Fulton Place Community League president Mike Cousins was dismayed to hear the recent shootings may be linked back to his community, as many of his neighbours are still coming to grips with the earlier night of gunplay."We're working together as a strong community and we have plans to help people feel safer, but I really don't see this as a specific worry for Fulton," he said. "These days, Edmonton tends to bubble with trouble after midnight. The important thing is for communities to work together to make each other feel safe."
The Somali community was rattled by the murders, Edmonton's 21st and 22nd of the year."This is not why they came to Canada," Hassan Ali, president of the Somali-Canadian Cultural Association, said earlier this month.Ali spoke to Sun Media following the funeral service for Hassan and Mohamed."They came here and left Somalia because they were looking for a safe place to live, but the way it ended was not the way they planned and expected," he said at the time.
Another Somali man, 19-year-old Mahamud Yassin Yusuf, was found slain near Stony Plain in May.Three homicides in the tight-knit community have taken a toll, Ali said. "This is too high for us and we need everybody's help to bring those responsible to justice."Police did not believe the Fulton Place shootings were gang or drug related.However, one merchant near the Element Lounge, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said there's a lot of drug activity in the area.

Source: Edmonton Sun