Clareview Earls reopens after weekend shooting

A north-end Edmonton restaurant has reopened for business, and police continue to investigate a brazen, daylight shooting that happened outside the eatery Saturday afternoon.

"We saw three guys walk out, and all of a sudden: ‘boom, boom, boom, boom, boom,’" said Greg Maughan, who heard the shots while at the Clareview Earls location with his fiance. "It sounded like fireworks at first, and then somebody said that someone has a gun, so we hit the deck as we heard the last shots go off."

Two brothers in their late 20s were just leaving the restaurant, when they were shot at by a man in his 20s in the parking lot. A third man, who was with the victims at the time, was not injured.

Both victims were rushed to hospital, with one of them requiring immediate surgery. They remained in hospital on Sunday, but are expected to recover from their injuries. Neither of the three men are cooperating with police, though.

After firing the shots, the suspect fled to a car and drove off. He is described by police as Caucasian, and was wearing grey sweat pants, black gloves, a black hoodie and red t-shirt at the time of the shooting.

Sarah Hoy, an Earls employee, was about to pull into the parking lot to start her shift when she saw all the police tape. She says that even though she’s heard some negative things about nearby neighbourhoods, she was shocked to learn that there had been a shooting outside her workplace. "This is senseless for someone to do this in a public place, where there’s families and so many people around. It really doesn’t make sense to me."

Retired criminologist, Keith Spencer, blames the escalating violence on a growing city and drug trade. "These aren’t random. They’re mostly people who know each other," Spencer said.

In less than a week, police have been called to two homicides, bringing Edmonton’s murder count to 22 – the highest in Canada.