Calgary police say two men arrested in Montreal in connection with a murder in the southeast Calgary community of Dover on Saturday had been trying to rob their victim.
“We believe this to be what we classify as a drug rip, where somebody attended another residence or what have you, to try to steal or take drugs – street drugs – that didn’t belong to them,” Insp. Paul Wozney said in a media conference Wednesday.
Wozney said the two suspects and the victim knew each other, but couldn’t provide further details about that relationship.
Officers were called to an apartment in the 3400 block of 31A Ave. S.E. at about 3:30 a.m. Saturday, where they found the body of Mvemba Eriq Afonso, also known as Eriq Afonso Mvemba.
An autopsy revealed that the 23-year-old had died from gunshot wounds.
Police said in a media release Wednesday that the victim had been visiting a friend but was alone in the apartment at the time of the shooting.
“When you get involved in that lifestyle there are, unfortunately, some consequences and some of those consequences are that there is a possibility that you may become a victim to violence and unfortunately, that’s what happened in this particular matter,” Wozney said.
Police said a black Dodge truck was seen leaving the scene. The vehicle was identified and reported stolen on Sunday.
“I think deductive reasoning would very quickly indicate that these two suspects got into that truck and took off very shortly after the time of this offence,” Wozney said.
On Tuesday, Quebec’s provincial police force alerted the Calgary Police Service (CPS) after its officers pulled over a truck matching the suspect vehicle’s description. Two men were arrested and remain in custody.
Wozney said officers in Quebec will be executing a search warrant on the vehicle.
“You have a young patrol member who queries a license plate and learns very quickly that license plate is from a stolen vehicle associated to something in Alberta and does a really good job of safely taking these people into custody, contacting the Calgary Police Service.”
Wozney said, when speaking about cooperation with police officers in Quebec, that the service is “well connected” across the country.
“Maybe these suspects believe that when they leave our jurisdiction, they can get away scot-free. They cannot and we will continue to track them down as best we can.”
Mourad Gasmi, 21, and Shannoh Jabet, 22, were arrested on Canada-wide warrants for second-degree murder and are both being transported back to Calgary. A court date hasn’t been set.
Anyone with information on the crime is asked to call CPS at 403-266-1234, the homicide unit tip line at 403-428-8877 or contact Crime Stoppers.
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