Calgary man identified as victim of weekend shooting outside Market Mall

Calgary police say the brazen shooting death of a man outside a busy northwest shopping centre this weekend is believed to be targeted.

The victim, identified on Monday as 23-year-old Danny Truong of Calgary, was shot outside the south entrance to Market Mall just before 2:30 p.m. on Saturday.

Paramedics rushed himto hospital in life-threatening condition where he was pronounced dead. 

Police say the death, which is the city's 12^th homicide of 2023, is "not connected" to another incident of gun violence over the weekend in the parking lot at Deerfoot City that injured two people.

“It is extremely concerning that such a brazen and unnecessary act of violence occurred in the middle of the afternoon in a public space, endangering Calgarians who were going about their day,” said acting Staff Sgt. Lee Treit in a news release.

Ward 5 Coun. Raj Dhaliwal says his wife and kids were at the mall when the violence unfolded.

"I’m a father first and councillor later, and I’m worried about each and every Calgarian. We don’t want it. This is disheartening and it is, for the lack of a better term, disgusting, and this needs to stop," he said.

Dhaliwal says as policymakers, they must work closer with law enforcement to prevent incidents like this.

Doug King, a justice studies professor at Mount Royal University, says the time of day and place of the shooting suggest a strong motive.

"More in the sense of less planning, more spontaneity, more anger, more sense of 'I'm getting back at this person for something they have done to me,'" he said.

The two recent shootings in shopping centre parking lots have some Calgarians on edge.

"It's shocking, honestly. I would feel unsafe now coming to this mall, knowing people are capable of doing this, and we don’t have enough security," Makaila Keon said.

Simon Haverson added, "I still feel relatively safe. I go with the whole theory that lightning doesn’t strike twice in the same spot."

Supt. Cory Dayley with the Calgary Police Service's criminal operations and intelligence division says addressing gun violence continues to be a top priority.

He says there have been 65 shootings so far this year compared to the mid-90s this time last year.

"That’s the good news out of a bad news weekend, a tragic weekend," Dayley said.

"We're still putting full force and full effort into suppression and interdiction of gun violence and our prevention programs, and continuing to bolster relationships within the community because that's where the intelligence lies."

Anyone with dash-cam footage from the Market Mall area at approximately 2:19 p.m. on Aug. 12 is asked to contact police by calling 403-266-1234.

Tips can also be submitted anonymously through Crime Stoppers.

Police are also asking anyone who may have dash-cam video in the area of the Side Street Pub and Grill on Kensington Crescent N.W. between 2 a.m. Wednesday, Aug. 9 and 12 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 10 to contact them.