Man dies after Ottawa nightclub shooting

One man is dead and another injured after a shooting at a nightclub in Ottawa's Byward Market early Thursday morning.

According to an Ottawa Police Service media release, police received a call about the shooting just after 1 a.m. Thursday.

When police arrived at Collection, a nightclub at 56 Byward Ave., they found one man who had been shot in the stomach and another who had been shot in the left arm.

Mike Langille, who works at an all-night diner up the street, said he was outside on a smoke break when police arrived.

"When we looked over, everyone was hustled out of the bar so that the cops could search around. They went through all the market stalls to see if they could find any weapons or any evidence," he said.

"We just saw the cops searching every single market stall."

Both men were taken to hospital, whereMohamed Jama Ali, 26, of Ottawa, was pronounced dead inthe city's third homicide of the year.

Thursday morning, police had cordoned off a section of the market with yellow tape, which blocked traffic and prevented some vendors from getting to their stalls.

The ByWard Market Square, between York Street and George Street, police said, would be closed until further notice.

Andre Chevrier sells wild garlic and vegetables at a market stand nearby.

"Normally it only happens someplace else never around me, anyway. It's like being in New York City," he said.

Chevrier said he was worried that Ottawa is becoming more like Toronto and other big cities where gun violence is more common.

"I know we have drug problems in Ottawa, especially in this area," said Chevrier. "The police seem to be doing the best they can right now."

John Diener, who runs his family's meat market two doors down from the scene of the shooting, said he's watched the neighbourhood change over the last 40 years.

"I don't remember ever seeing a murder. I've seen all kinds of weird things happen in the market lots of colourful personalities, getting into trouble inside the stores and outside the stores but never anything as violent as a murder," he said.

Rory Williams, who works in the diner with Langille, however, said he's not worried that the shooting is a sign Ottawa's market will see more gun violence.

"For the amount of times that I've heard of anything like this actually happening in the city, I'm not very worried. It was probably an isolated case."