Homicide unit takes over two shooting probes
The victims of two Monday morning shootings — one before daybreak, the other after — attended the same Sunday evening wedding in Ottawa, the Citizen has learned.
Homicide victim Guled Ahmed, 23, shot dead in a back alleyway on Carruthers Avenue, and a second man, who showed up at hospital with gunshot wounds after bullets were fired into the front window of a Gilmour Street home, were both staying at Airbnb rentals while they were in Ottawa for the wedding. Both are from Toronto.
The homicide squad is now leading the probe into both shootings, which police believe are connected.
Detectives have released a picture of an unknown woman police want to question about the homicide. Ahmed was found by police in an alley behind 135A Carruthers Avenue around 4 a.m. Monday with multiple gunshot wounds to his chest after a neighbour in the area reported seeing his body in the lane.
Multiple shots had been fired just minutes before and police had descended on Carruthers looking for assailants or any wounded people. Investigators believe his shooting was targeted.
A Gofundme campaign was set up for Ahmed’s family after his fatal shooting and recognized the slain Toronto man as a cherished son and brother.
The fundraiser was taken offline Tuesday after raising only $630 of its $5,000 goal.
Ahmed is believed to have been in Ottawa to attend a wedding at the Infinity Convention Centre in the city’s south end.
The bride’s brother is known to the force investigating Ahmed’s fatal shooting.
Aden (Shukri) Aden was charged in 2016 as part of a bust of an alleged teen prostitution ring. At the time, the then-35-year-old faced charges of sexual assault and sexual interference.
In 2007, he was swept up in a guns and gangs raid of known Bloods and Crips gang members in “Project E-Z Off,” named for the unit’s efforts to clean up the streets of Ottawa.
Police believe the victim wounded in the Gilmour Street shooting also attended the wedding. After shots were fired into the Airbnb rental at 645 Gilmour St. where he was on Monday around 7:30 a.m., police responded to the scene to find shell casings and blood but no victim. He later turned up at hospital.
The capital would be hit by a third shooting before the day was done. Officers responded to shots fired in the area of Carling Avenue and Ritchie Street around 11:15 p.m. Monday.
But that one, which wounded two men, 23 and 24, remains in the hands of west criminal detectives and not with the homicide squad. It’s not believed to be linked to the earlier shootings.
Homicide detectives ask that anyone with information about the woman in the surveillance images they released contact the major crime unit at 613-236-1222, ext. 5493 or call a tip line at 613-2361222 ext. 5477.
Anonymous tips can also be submitted by calling Crime Stoppers toll-free at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS).