EDMONTON- Police have identified the victim of a double shooting in southeast Edmonton Saturday night as 29-year-old Blair Michael Cunningham.
Police were called to Mamma’s Pizza, located at 28th Avenue and Mill Woods Road NW, shortly after 10:30 Saturday night, after shots were fired inside the restaurant.
Police believe an argument inside Mamma’s Pizza quickly escalated to an altercation between four men. Officers say it resulted in two men being shot.
Staff Sergeant Phil Werth says one man, who was shot in the shoulder, was taken to hospital where he died about an hour after arriving. The other man, who police say is 31-years-old, remained in hospital Sunday with non-life-threatening injuries.
Police say the men were known to each other.
“While this incident does not appear to be a random shooting, it is definitely a concern that it occurred in a public establishment,” said Staff Sergeant Bill Clark, of the Edmonton Police Service Homicide Section.
Police are now searching for a suspect who fled the scene shortly before officers arrived Saturday night. Police say the man is believed to be in his mid 20s. Police describe him as a light skinned black male with short dark hair, approximately 5’9″ tall with a stocky build. He was last seen wearing a coat over a hoodie.
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“Fortunately the restaurant where the shooting occurred has a strong, proactive working relationship with the police, which will hopefully assist us in identifying the suspect,” Clark explained.
There were about 40 to 50 people inside the restaurant at the time of the shooting.
Jenna Weber, a server and bartender at Mamma’s Pizza, wasn’t working Saturday night, but says one of the staff members was outside when the shots were fired, and ran inside to see how she could help.
“She went in with her first aid certification and performed all that she could on, at the time, the injured, until unfortunately he was lost at the hospital,” Weber explained.
Weber arrived at work Sunday morning visibly shaken. She says she never imagined anything like this would ever happen at her workplace.
“I’ve never seen anything like this. I never thought anything like this would happen here,” she explained. “Our whole entire team is a great support, a great team, and I would never fear coming to work.”
She says the customers at Mamma’s Pizza are regulars, and staff didn’t know the men who were involved in Saturday night’s shootings.
“We kind of have the same people coming in and out of here and unfortunately, some people that we didn’t know came in. I’m not sure what the whole intent was, but the only people involved with the altercation that escalated into the shooting were the people involved. So no customers, none of our staff or anything were directly affected. Well, other than experiencing the traumatic event, of course,” Weber said.
Mamma’s Pizza was open for business as usual on Sunday.
Homicide detectives have now taken over the investigation.
An autopsy for Cunningham is scheduled for 1:00p.m. Tuesday.
With files from Shannon Greer.
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