Calgary men charged with planning, attempted murder of rival gangster

Two Calgary men face charges of attempted murder and conspiracy to murder after a rival gangster survived two shootings on the same day.

On Wednesday, police announced charges against Masood Mohammad, 30, and Harliv Singh Cheema, 20, who investigators say tried to kill Alexander Kethsana Tran in September 2023.

Mohammad is charged with attempted murder and conspiracy to commit murder while Cheema faces charges of conspiracy to commit murder and accessory after the fact to an indictable offence.

Both Mohammad and Cheema have other firearms charges before the courts following other organized crime investigations.

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The pair will be back in court on Monday.

Weeks after Tran was shot, police attempted to arrest two other suspects in the attack.

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During that arrest, officers got into a shootout with the two suspects in the parking lot of a northeast strip mall. One suspect died.The other, Thanh Nguyen, was arrested.He was later charged in the Tran shooting.

A police officer was injured in the shooting but released quickly from hospital.

Tran shooting

On Sept.30, 2023, two "brazen" shootings took place within about 30 minutes of each other.

Just before 3 p.m. on that Saturday, a driver called police to report a shooting involving two vehicles on westbound Glenmore Trail near 37th Street S.W.

Both vehicles were gone by the time police arrived.

About 30 minutes later, police were called to a home in the southeast community of Seton.

There, they discovered an injured man inside his vehicle. The victim had been shot while parking his car, according to police.

'Organized crime conflict'

Several rounds were fired during that shooting in Seton with stray bullets striking four nearby homes.

The suspects fled in a stolen vehicle.

"Both shootings had targeted the same victim and were believed to be connected to organized crime conflict in Calgary," said police at the time.

Police say they are still working to determine whether anyone else was involved in the shootings.

"Our job is to hold everyone responsible for violence in Calgary accountable, and our efforts do not stop at the individual who pulls the trigger," said Insp. Roland Stewart.

"This investigation is a direct example of the dedication and tenacity of our organized crime investigators, who spend months collecting evidence to progress an investigation despite unco-operative victims and attempts to evade police."