GUNFIRE ON A SUMMER NIGHT
Man killed in Iris Street shooting
A 36-year-old father with a troubled past has been identified as the man who was gunned down in an Iris Street parking lot Monday night.
As investigators took video and combed the crime scene for evidence Tuesday, police identified the dead man as Esmail Sharifi.
Authorities responded to reports of gunfire at the strip mall in the Pinecrest area around 9:30 p.m. and found the critically injured Sharifi, who a business owner reported had stumbled toward a restaurant seeking help.
Paramedics began “aggressive” treatment as he was raced to the trauma unit at the Civic Campus of The Ottawa Hospital, but he later died of his injuries.
The deadly incident was the most serious of three shootings in a span of 24 hours in the capital, including a shooting that left a man in critical condition Tuesday.
Two tow trucks were seen being removed from the Iris Street parking lot Monday night while a dozen other vehicles remained behind police tape through the night.
Police did not release any details about Sharifi but court documents show he was sentenced to prison time in 2012 for crimes including trafficking more than a kilogram of cocaine five years earlier. He’d been swept up in an Ottawa police probe after earlier brushes with the law.
The judge noted evidence that Sharifi had been an addict since the age of 15 and had dealt drugs to satisfy his own addiction but still had “overwhelming” family support, with his wife, who was expecting their first child, along with both parents, siblings and cousins on hand in the courtroom.
Sharifi had not faced criminal charges since.
At the scene of the shooting Monday, Ottawa police duty Insp. John Medeiros said the incident did not involve any of the nearby businesses.
Big Rig Kitchen and Brewery owner Jimmy Zourntos said he was “shocked and saddened” by the shooting.
“We are thankful to our staff for their response to a 36-yearold man, who ran to Big Rig … in search of help,” Zourntos said on Facebook, adding that they also took “the time to speak with every patron to ensure their safety in the midst of the emergency.”
He also applauded an off-duty police officer who happened to be dining with his girlfriend at the restaurant “for managing the scene with the utmost of professionalism — providing reassurance to all.”
As business owners and staff waited on the sidewalk before reopening Tuesday morning, police vehicles lined Iris Street and guarded the edges of the mall as officers processed evidence at what police called a large crime scene. Yellow
evidence markers were visible in front of a vaping shop at the east end of the mall and a winemaking store several storefronts down.
Super Vacs owner Tyler Whitham said it was a surprise to hear about gunfire in the busy area.
“Horrible things do happen, but I think this was a completely isolated incident,” Whitham said.
Christine Karam, who works at a hair salon in the plaza, was worried that violence had struck so close to home.
“It’s right where I work; there are kids and families,” she said, pointing to the quiet streets south of the plaza. “It’s crazy.”
It was Ottawa’s 10th homicide of the year.
Elsewhere Monday night, shots were fired in the Heron Park area in what witnesses reported was a dispute between people in two cars. There were no reported injuries.
And on Tuesday a young man was in critical condition after being shot on Grenon Avenue, near Michele Park and close to Carling Avenue.
Police were asking that anyone with information to contact the major crime squad at 613-236-1222, ext. 5493. Anonymous tips can be made to Crime Stoppers at 1-800222-8477 (TIPS).