Police seek witnesses to beating on Whyte Avenue
Victim, suspects spent evening at Billiard Club
Police are looking for up to six witnesses who saw a man beaten on Whyte Avenue early Saturday morning.
Raad Hamza, 24, was found unconscious at about 2:20 a.m. Saturday and succumbed to his injuries the following day.
He never regained consciousness.
“We have surveillance video of the incident,” said Homicide Det. Dale Johnson. But “video evidence does not replace eyewitness evidence. We would like those people to feel comfortable coming forward and not take for granted that the police will solve this without their help.”
Johnson said the fight happened quickly on the sidewalk outside The Billiard Club, just south of Whyte Avenue on 105th Street.
The victim and two suspects spent the evening at The Billiard Club.
They were at minimum acquaintances, perhaps more, Johnson said.
Shortly after last call, they were standing outside on the sidewalk with several other people when the fight or assault broke out.
Hamza was attacked by two men. The fight lasted less than 10 seconds.
Staff from the bar called police and tried to open the victim’s airway, said Johnson. “They did what they could under the circumstances.”
None of the fight took place inside The Billiard Club, which is well run, he said.
“We don’t believe this assault reflects on the management or the bar itself.”
Witnesses standing around outside the bar would have seen the fight, but they might not have realized how serious it was, Johnson said. “Unfortunately, I don’t think small fights are uncommon along the avenue,” he said. “In this case, they may have dismissed what they’d seen as relatively minor and insignificant.
“But certainly it’s not. Mr. Hamza has succumbed to those injuries and has died. Maybe if people realize that, they might feel compelled to come forward.”
Johnson said Hazma has been living in Edmonton. He is known to police.
Hazma was one of three young men charged with assault and possession of an offensive weapon in connection with a shooting in a north Edmonton home in 2012.
However, those charges were withdrawn this past September after one of the men, Robiel Tiku, pleaded guilty. Hamza went with Tiku and another man into the house and started fighting with a 17-year-old man. Tiku shot the victim as he fled, but although the bullet lodged in his neck, the man survived.
The autopsy is scheduled for Monday. estolte@edmontonjournal.com Twitter: @estolte