Bar fight might have preceded Hamilton death
Police release suspect description and a video of a car from night Brampton man was gunned down
Hamilton police believe a Brampton man may not have been the intended target when a gunman opened fire on a group of people standing outside a city bar in early August.
Michael Campbell, 34, was killed and three others injured in the Aug. 8 shooting at 1:30 a.m. on East Ave. N., just north of King St. E.
It’s unclear to police which one of the three men shot were the intended target, said Staff Sgt. Dave Oleniuk, of the major crime unit.
A woman at the scene was not the target.
“Campbell’s last act was to push her out of the way,” he said. The downtown shooting may have been the result of a fight that happened inside the bar Sheila’s Place, across from the murder scene, earlier that night about 11:30 p.m., according to police.
Oleniuk said police are still investigating what the fight was about, but it was physical and initially involved two men, with about a dozen others intervening and breaking it up.
Campbell wasn’t one of the two directly involved in the fight, but he had a loose association with a number of people in the bar that night.
Initially police were hampered by a lack of co-operation from witnesses.
However, more than a month later, major crime unit detectives finally have enough information to release a description of the suspected shooter.
He’s described as a Black man, between five-foot-eight and six feet tall, wearing all black clothing, including a hoodie and shorts that revealed very skinny legs (described by a witness as “chicken legs”).
Police have also released photos and a video of a grey or silver 2016 to 2018 Hyundai Tucson, believed to be involved in the shooting, possibly as the shooter’s getaway car.
The owner of thatcar may not have been directly involved in the shooting, but would have “vital information” that police need.
The car initially caught police attention because it was captured on surveillance in the area circling the block before the murder, Oleniuk said.
Campbell had a brother and friends in Hamilton and was familiar with the area.
The bar’s owner, Sheila Anglin, previously told the Spectator that she was going through receipts in her back office after the bar had closed that night when she heard the loud “bang, bang, bang, bang” of gunfire just outside her door. When she looked outside Campbell was laying on the sidewalk and a woman who had run into an alley, ran out and collapsed.
Witnesses also heard screeching tires as vehicles fled.
Two other victims were driven to hospital, but not by ambulance.
Anglin has 16 cameras on the outside of her bar and its attached Caribbean restaurant, Ellis Kitchen, which she shared with police.
It’s not the first time a shooting has happened there, three men were shot just metres away four years ago.
At the time Campbell’s murder marked the 15th shooting in Hamilton this year. The count is now at 22. Since his death there have also been two other fatal shootings in the city.
Police have not seized a murder weapon, but they say it was a handgun.
From evidence at the scene, police know the calibre and the number of shots fired, but Oleniuk declined to share those details.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Det. Ross Johnson of the major crime unit at 905-546-3827.
Or to remain anonymous you can contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or crimestoppershamilton.com.