When a recent bullet hit the Calgary Police Office 6, it was one of 60 shots fired at the scene just down the road and one of two daylight shots that occurred within hours of each other and which investigators have linked to organized crime. .
The insolence of this scenario is symbolic of the escalating violence with weapons of organized crime that is taking place on the streets of Calgary this year.
From January to June, there were 63 shootings in Calgary – twice the five-year average over the same period, according to statistics provided by the Calgary Police Department (CPS).
The CPS says it has added staff and reorganized units to prioritize “reckless” gun violence.
Double Cross
So far in 2022, CPS officials say five people have been killed in connection with organized crime.
And while police use words such as “organized crime,” “groups,” “networks,” and “loyalty,” they are reluctant to use the term “gang war.”
This is partly because “gang” is not the term used in the Penal Code, and partly because this time, once airtight allegiances are much more fluid, says Insp. Jody Gatch with the CPS Organized Crime Section.
“It’s not the same as it was; “Before, you saw a conflict between two groups, so you were either on side, or you were on side A or side B. It’s not like that right now,” Gache said.
“Historically, fidelity hasn’t changed as much as what we see right now.”
Insp. Calgary Police Department Jodie Gach says historical attachment to organized crime has not changed as much as what police now see. (CBC)
One police officer involved in the investigation said members of the group were known to “change countries within a week”.
“They double-cross flip-flops,” said the official, who is not authorized to speak on behalf of the CPS.
“It’s hard to get ahead of these guys.”
The role of honor
The flow of the groups adds “extreme complexity” to the investigations, Gach said.
Conflicts arise for a number of reasons, the inspector explained. There are traditional battles involving drug distribution networks and greed. And then, says Gach, there are personal conflicts.
“When people are not honest within the group, then a conflict arises that we see unfolding through shootings and reckless violence,” Gach said.
Police responded to a fatal shooting on 16th Avenue NW and Fourth Street NW earlier this year. (Colleen Underwood / CBC)
A police station was hit by a bullet
On May 23, two daily shootings took place on Monday. One in the southeastern part of Acadia, the other on 17th Avenue SW, one of the busiest pedestrian streets in the city.
Two young men, both of late age, were taken to hospital with gunshot wounds.
The teenagers know each other, according to sources familiar with the investigation, but not authorized to speak on behalf of the CPS.
But Gach says it would be misleading at this point in the investigation to say the shootings were linked.
“There are many ways in which people can be connected… I wouldn’t be sure to say that they are connected crimes based on some initial thought.”
The passer-by was killed
During the shooting in Acadia around 11:30 am, 60 rounds of ammunition were fired in the neighborhood, according to Supt. Cliff O’Brien.
In addition to the teenage victim and a parked car, the nearby police station in District 6 was also hit by a bullet, according to officials who received an information note about the situation the next day.
Luck or chance seemed to have prevented the other 57 bullets from hitting a bystander.
Angela Mackenzie was unlucky.
On May 10, the driver of a stolen Chevy Silverado shot at a man fleeing a shooting at a Volkswagen Jetta. The chase ended with the impact of two uninvolved vehicles at an intersection in the southeastern neighborhood of Forest Lone.
A famous gangster is wanted
Mackenzie was killed in the crash. Her death left five orphans.
Talal Amer, 29, a gangster previously convicted of organized crime in the last Calgary street war, is wanted on orders across Canada for manslaughter, attempted murder and gun crimes.
Talal Amer, 29, is wanted across Canada. He is accused of killing an innocent passer-by in an accident after chasing and shooting at another car. (Calgary Police Department)
Amer is well known to Calgary police and played a role, along with his brother and two cousins, in the Calgary Gang War of 2015/2016, marked by family ties and gun violence.
In 2016, Calgary police arrested eight men in connection with at least 10 assassination attempts, including Amer, two of his brothers, and two cousins, Badar and Abdul Amer.
Amer eventually pleaded guilty to lesser crimes and received a sentence of three years in prison, which expired five days before he was charged with Mackenzie’s murder.
5 murders of organized crime
Mackenzie’s murder is considered by the police as one of the five so far in 2022, which are related to organized crime.
The others are:
- Eric Riendo, 36, was shot dead in an alley in the southwestern community of Sunalta on January 6th. He had a rich history in the courts.
- Ali Al-Aqal, 21, was stopped at a red light at the intersection of Fourth Street NW Avenue on March 21 when a man got out of another vehicle, approached the victim’s Chevy Avalanche and shot at the driver.
- On April 1, Majid Ahmed Zulfikar and a friend bought food in Jerusalem Shawarma and then got into their car parked in the driveway behind the restaurant. A man approached the vehicle and fired several shots at Zulfikar, killing him.
- Police were called to the northeastern Saddle Ridge community on April 20th after neighbors said they heard gunshots. Hisham Ahmed was found dead in a vehicle.
People “know who the shooters are”
Mackenzie’s is the only one of the five murders charged.
Part of what the police are struggling with is the struggle to get information from members of the shooter communities.
There are people who know who the offenders are, but they don’t talk.
“Honestly, I can’t say enough that we know there are people who know who the shooters are,” Gach said.
“We know the community can help us right now. To do our job, we need the help of the community.
Gach says people do not cooperate for a number of reasons – a mixture of fear, loyalty and reliance on the protection that some of these members of the group offer.
To cope with the increased number of shootings, the CPS says it has added personnel to its operations, response and intelligence units within the Organized Crime Section.
He also introduced a formalized response to the shooting, and the service stepped up its monitoring of those under court-ordered conditions.
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