Kallen Carothers identified as 16th Avenue shooting victim

Friends have identified the victim of a shooting on 16th Avenue in Calgary's northwest as 23-year-old Kallen Carothers.

One friend, who wishes to remain anonymous and now lives in Edmonton, has known Carothers since Grade 6. She says she was an only child who lived with her parents in a downtown Calgary apartment while attending school to be a medical administrator.

She spoke to Carothers on Wednesday night for a few minutes just before 11 p.m, MT which was about 15 minutes before the shooting occurred near a strip mall on 19th Street.

"When I talked to her she was by herself. She seemed fine, she was talking to me," said the friend who heard about what happened around 11:30 p.m.

She said Carothers did not have a boyfriend and doesn't know what happened.

Friends didn't know Carothers' other friends

"She goes to school. She goes to work. She minds her own business," said the friend. "She was a very good person and she had a very good heart. She wanted to do medical admin. She wanted to help people." 

The friend said a GoFundMe campaign has been set up to help pay for Carothers' funeral. 

Andrea Turnbull, another school friend, found out about Carothers' death on social media.

"I never actually met the new people she's been hanging out with. I never heard anything bad about them. I just know she was partying a lot, but other than that I don't know about the group she was hanging out with. 

"I don't believe she was the target at all. I can't see anyone going after her at all... She is a wholehearted girl, and I feel she just got mixed up with the wrong people."

Witness sought by police

Meanwhile, police are asking the public for any information about the whereabouts and the identity of the man who they say was in the car with Carothers when the shooting occurred. 

He is believed to be a black male, in his mid-20s, who is five feet 10 inches to six feet tall with a thin build who may have been wearing white pants, said Duty Insp. Paul Wyatt.

A dark-coloured sedan was also seen leaving the scene. Police believe this is not a random attack, and they have no suspects. The investigation is underway.

Emergency crews had found a woman suffering "traumatic injuries" from a firearm, said EMS spokesman Stuart Brideaux. Police confirmed early Thursday morning she had died from her injuries in hospital. An autopsy is set to be performed Thursday.

Neighbour heard 8 gunshots

Yvette Branker, who lives in a nearby apartment had gone to bed for the night when she heard gunshots, followed a little later by several more. 

"I know it was eight. I knew it was gunshots because of the reverberation after each one," said Branker who's lived in the neighbourhood for 20 years. 

The gunshots sounded so close she didn't move.

"I know bullets can travel through walls and I thought it was some sort of gang shooting ... although that's never happened in the neighbourhood." 

She got dressed and then heard a second set of shots. She looked out the window to see two cars in the intersection, one behind the other, as if there had been a car accident. Then police and other emergency vehicles started arriving and she knew they were responding to the shooting, she said.

"I'm a little shaken because I cross that intersection a number of times every day. It was very close to [my apartment]."

Police are saying little else about their investigation so far, but say multiple shots were reportedly fired at a white car that was left sitting in the intersection. It was towed away by investigators early Thursday morning.

Police blocked off the area for several hours but the roads were reopened in time for the morning commute.