LATEST GUNFIRE DRUG-RELATED

Police Say Recent Deerfoot, North Hill Mall Shootings Didn't Involve Gangs

Gunfire on Calgary streets is not just for gangs anymore.

Police have ruled Calgary's two latest shootings -- one Friday on Deerfoot
Tr. and another at North Hill mall earlier this month -- as drug-related
and not involving gangs, opening fears as to who is shooting up our streets.

"I don't think law-abiding citizens have anything to be concerned about,"
said police Insp. Rene Bailly. "But if you're in the illegitimate business
of either buying or selling drugs, then you should be concerned -- it's a
dangerous business."

As the Calgary Police Service's newly formed Gang Task Force cleans up
streets of gang activity, more violence is erupting within the drug trade.

"A major concern is when you have shots fired and it's spilling out onto
the street," said Bailly, reassuring Calgarians they are safe.

"Gunplay in this city is still a rare event," Bailly said.

"We're talking a city of a million people and we don't often get it.

"We get a lot of stabbings in this city that are drug-related, but it's
rare to see guns involved."

Bailly also said, while not directly connected, recent shootings within
Calgary's drug trade is likely an offshoot of gang activity.

Police say the increased prevalence of shooting games and violent movies
has an effect on how some people view guns.

"Movies certainly glamourize the whole lifestyle," Bailly said, adding
police dread the release of movies hyperaction flicks such as XXX and The
Fast and the Furious.

"The movies have a huge impact on the image of this city."

In Friday's incident, a man southbound on Deerfoot Tr., near Southland Dr.,
called police on his cellphone, saying three people in a Honda Accord
flashed a handgun.

As he alerted police, the gun went off, just before both cars turned onto
Hwy. 22X.

Police apprehended the suspects moments later as the Accord stopped for a
red light at Chaparral Blvd. Police then retrieved the gun from the
suspects' vehicle.

Three men were arrested and police laid 21 charges against Tafarian Dixon,
20, Horace Pennant, 25, and Ian Bullens, 20.

Bullens was also charged with one count of possession of cocaine for the
purpose of trafficking.

Earlier this month, shots were fired in the parking lot of North Hill
Shopping Centre, 1616 14 Ave. N.W. -- in what police called a marijuana buy
gone wrong -- leaving a 24-year-old male with five gunshot wounds.