Brampton man killed, 3 others injured in 'targeted' central Hamilton shooting

A Brampton man is dead and three people injured after someone opened fire on a group of people "shooting the breeze" on a central Hamilton sidewalk early Wednesday morning.

Michael Campbell,  34, was gunned down near the corner of East Avenue and King Street East around 1:30 a.m., according to Staff Sgt. Dave Oleniuk.

Two men and a woman also suffered gunshot wounds during the shooting, but they are expected to survive.

Sheila Anglin owns Ellis' Kitchen and Sheila's Place, a restaurant and bar on King Street East. She was doing her final count early Tuesday morning when the staccato "bang, bang, bang" of gunshots startled her and caused her to run for the door. She opened it to see a man lying face down.

"He looked in his 20s," she said. "He was skinny-looking. He had on white runners and a white jacket."

Anglin called 911 and said officers showed up while she was still on the line.

The shooting victims are connected to Hamilton and the GTA, but police are still working to determine what happened in the lead up to the shooting.

Oleniuk said they're not sure how the group of about a half dozen people who were "shooting the breeze" knew each other, but the service does not think the shooting was random.

"Every indication we have is that it was targeted at someone in that group," he said.

No weapon has been recovered, but police believe it's possible a single firearm was used.

Police are getting "some cooperation" from witnesses, but are looking for more, said Oleniuk. He added they're also asking anyone with surveillance video to contact the service.

Video showed man lying face down

Anglin said she's already supplied police with footage from some of the 16 security cameras she has constantly recording around her building.

"Around here, you need it," she explained, looking out her window at more than a dozen bright green evidence markers scattered across the road between her building and the next.

Police were still downloading the surveillance video Wednesday afternoon, but Anglin said it caught the entire shooting.

"We can see everything. It shows you two people running, then one person drop on the ground."

Anglin said a woman can also be seen running up a nearby alley, before coming back and falling down.

"They took her away in the ambulance too," she added. 

'Typical of Hamilton'

Neighbours living near the scene were also left shaken by the shooting.

Lynn Ridsdale said she was in her Emerald Street backyard, smoking a cigarette when she hear "as many as 10 shots" fired close by.

"I thought it was fireworks at first, but then I listened and they were coming too fast, too quick so I knew it wasn't fireworks."

She told her dog to run inside then heard tires squeal as a car quickly took off.

Ridsdale said the homicide scared her, but added crime is something she's almost come to expect in her neighbourhood.

"It's typical of Hamilton. We've seen it before. There's a lot of trouble here. A lot of drugs." 

Investigators are calling on anyone with information or video of the area will come forward. East Avenue between King and King William will be closed for most of today.

Anyone with information should call Det. Ross Johnson of the Major Crime Unit at 905-546-3827, or Crime Stoppers.