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Boy, 14, charged with 1st-degree murder in fatal Calgary shooting appears in court as police ID victim

A 14-year-old boy accused of shooting a man in a strip mall parking lot made a brief court appearance on a charge of first-degree murder as police identified the victim of Monday’s homicide.

Victim identified by police as Rami Hajj Ali, 23

Meghan Grant · CBC News ·
A police car is parked in a parking lot that is lined by police tape.
Police tape cordons off a scene where one person was killed by gunfire at the Trans Canada Centre in the city's northeast on Monday. A 14-year-old charged with murder made a brief court appearance Thursday. (Jo Horwood/CBC)

A 14-year-old boy accused of shooting a man in a strip mall parking lot made a brief court appearance on a charge of first-degree murder as police identified the victim of Monday's homicide.

The boy's 18-year-old brother is also charged in connection with the killing. He faces a charge of accessory after the fact to murder and also appeared in court Thursday afternoon.

Following an autopsy, police identified the victim of the fatal shooting as Rami Hajj Ali, 23.

Neither of the accused are being named in order to shield the identity of the 14-year-old, which is under a Youth Criminal Justice Act publication ban. 

Defence lawyer Jim Lutz appeared in court for the younger brother and got the case adjourned for two weeks as he waits for the Crown to hand over disclosure. On the other side of the courthouse, in an adult courtroom, lawyer Mackenzie McCaffrey appeared for the 18-year-old and put the case over a week, indicating a plan to seek bail. 

Organized crime connection

Ali was shot and killed while in the driver's seat of a vehicle in the parking lot of the Trans Canada Centre strip mall in northeast Calgary Monday afternoon.

Two others were injured in the shooting.

Staff Sgt. Sean Gregson with CPS's homicide unit said the shooting is believed to be connected to ongoing organized crime violence in Calgary.

Police responded to the northeast strip mall at about 2 p.m. Monday after receiving reports of a shooting.

Police were led to the getaway vehicle by witnesses at the scene which led investigators to the brothers.

5 shootings in 5 days

Officers found the teenage suspects as they fled and followed them to two homes where they were taken into custody 

Ali is believed to be the intended target but police were unsure whether the two injured people — a man and a woman — were targets.

The surviving victims were taken to hospital in life-threatening condition but have since been upgraded to stable.

Ali was dead by the time police arrived. 

Monday's shooting was the city's fifth in as many days.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Meghan Grant

CBC Calgary crime reporter

Meghan Grant is a justice affairs reporter. She has been covering courts, crime and stories of police accountability in southern Alberta for more than a decade. Send Meghan a story tip at [email protected].

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