Gunfire erupted in the aftermath of a funeral at the Calgary Muslim Cemetery near Cochrane Friday afternoon, when an altercation broke out between some of the attendees, Mounties say.
Four people were dropped off at hospital in Calgary suffering from injuries not considered life-threatening — all of the victims are expected to make full recoveries.
Meanwhile, at least one shooter remains free, as currently no one is in custody.
An RCMP officer walks past police vehicles blocking the road towards the cemetery from Cochrane.
Calgary police joined in the Cochrane and Calgary RCMP’s response to the attack, positioning a large presence of tactical officers at the Foothills hospital — at the entrance and in the parking lot — along with a police helicopter circling high above the northwest medical centre.
Cpl. Sharon Franks of the RCMP said her investigators are working with the Calgary Police Service to determine if gang ties or anything else was at play in the attack, but at this time what the relationships between everyone at the funeral actually are is still being worked out.
“It appears that there were friends and family gathered for a funeral at this cemetery when an altercation broke out that ended with a gunfight,” Franks said.
“It looks as though all the parties involved (in the shooting) were at this funeral.”
Evidence markers in the area around a van parked at the cemetery. (Mike Drew/Postmedia)
Zouhair Osman, director for the cemetery about a kilometre east of Cochrane, where Friday’s shooting occurred, said a service for a 21-year-old man had just wrapped up and some guests had already left prior to the incident.
He said he’d also left by about 3:15 or 3:20 p.m., but he turned around when a neighbour called to tell him something had happened.
“You don’t know what to do,” Osman said.
“You don’t know what to think.”
By 3:30 p.m., the RCMP were also getting multiple calls regarding the shooting, but Const. Jennifer Brewer said the callers were non-specific about the location and there are a few cemeteries in and around Cochrane — it took some time to lock the right one down and by then there wasn’t much left of a scene to investigate or witnesses to interview.
Victims of the shooting were rushed to hospitals in Calgary by unknown parties in private vehicles — three were taken directly to Foothills while the fourth was dropped at the Alberta Children’s Hospital, and then an ambulance took him to Foothills.
Calgary Police tactical team members maintain a heavy, armed presence outside of Foothills Hospital after reports of 4 people shot near Cochrane Friday afternoon March 11, 2016. (Ted Rhodes/Postmedia)
EMS confirmed the one victim they did have a hand in transporting was a young adult male, 18 or 19 years old.
“We’re still working on this matter — it’s difficult when there are no people left at the scene,” Franks said.
Anyone with information about Friday’s shooting is asked to call the RCMP at or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS.
