An Ottawa Police officer collects evidence after a shooting at the Infinity Convention Centre that left two dead, in Ottawa, on Sept. 3, 2023.Justin Tang/The Canadian Press
Ottawa Police say limited co-operation from witnesses to a double killing at a wedding eight months ago has hampered their ability to investigate the case.
Arrests have yet to be made in shootings at the Ottawa wedding on the evening of Sept. 2 that left two men dead and six others injured.
Ottawa Police’s homicide unit says it is pursuing “some leads with the information that was provided to us.”
“This is a very complex investigation, with multiple witnesses, many of which are hesitant to come forward and speak to police,” police spokesperson Cailey Walker said in a statement on behalf of the unit. “This limited co-operation has impeded our progress with the investigation.”
She said officers are working with community and policing partners.
Police and paramedics sped to the scene at the Infinity Convention Centre near the airport after reports of shots fired on the evening of Sept. 2.
Paramedics rushed the injured – including two men with fatal bullet wounds – to hospital after several people were shot outside the wedding reception. Other wedding guests caught in the shooting made it to nearby hotels and to hospital themselves.
The police said they are continuing to ask the public and guests at the wedding to come forward with information.
Ottawa Police have named the dead men as 26-year-old Said Mohamed Ali and 29-year-old Abdishakur Abdi-Dahir, both from Toronto. Said Mohamed Ali had only arrived in Canada months before he was killed to establish a new life here. Abdishakur Abdi-Dahir was an engineer, the police said.
The police said after the shooting there was no indication the killings were hate-motivated.
One witness to the shooting who spoke to The Globe and Mail at the time said she heard gunshots from outside the convention centre and then saw a man in his 20s come in through the doors with a gun raised in his hand, chasing another man.
She said she and other guests hid in the kitchens and the doors were locked to keep the gunman out. Others hid in storage areas.
The Globe is not naming the woman because of safety concerns.
Ottawa Police Chief Eric Stubbs said after the shooting that a connection with “guns and gangs” was being examined. The police said at a news conference then that they did not think that the victims of the “brazen and careless attack” were the intended targets.