Cousins not intended targets of fatal restaurant shooting, police say
CBC News | Posted: February 4, 2016 12:34 AM | Last Updated: February 4, 2016
Man believed to be intended target of shooting arrested as part of police raid Tuesday evening
A young man shot dead in a west Ottawa restaurant late Sunday afternoon and his cousin — who remains in hospital with three gunshot wounds — were not the intended targets of the shooting, police have told CBC News.
Marwan Arab, 20, was with his cousin Ayyub Arab, 22, and a third man when he was shot in the head and killed at Shifa Restaurant on Cobden Road around 5:30 p.m. on Sunday.
Police sources told CBC News that the third man has gang ties and is believed to be the intended target of the shooting. He is not cooperating with the investigation, police said.
A man in his 50s and the restaurant owner's wife were also in the restaurant at the time of the shooting.
CBC News previously reported that Ayyub Arab was named in connection with a terrorism case. Awso Peshdary, who was charged in terrorism-related offences last February, was prohibited by the court from communicating with Ayyub Arab.
Family members of both Arab cousins told CBC News they do not believe the shooting was related to terrorism.
Raid linked to shooting
Ottawa police confirmed that a raid Tuesday evening in Kanata that led to seven arrests and the seizure of a 12-gauge shotgun was linked to the fatal shooting at Shifa Restaurant.
The man who was with the Arab cousins on Sunday evening was one of the seven people arrested, police sources confirmed. The 29-year-old man was charged with possession of a small quantity of crack cocaine and firearm offences.
Sgt. Josh Pulfer told CBC News that the guns and gangs unit tactical team stormed a home on Castlefrank Road without a warrant last night in a "public safety entry," after receiving information that a firearm inside the home would be used in a shooting.
"We assumed the shooting was going to happen last night and there was not time to get a warrant," he said.
Police searched the home Wednesday after getting a warrant to do so.