Police in Halton Region are searching for two male suspects after a 24-year-old man was shot and killed in a mall parking lot in Burlington on Sunday night.
Investigators say they were called to Burlington Centre Mall at 777 Guelph Line, near Fairview Street, shortly after 10 p.m. on Sunday.
They said two suspects fled the scene in a white SUV.
The victim, who has now been identified by police as Omar Niaz Muhammad, died on the way to hospital.
CP24 has learned Muhammad was an aspiring rapper from Hamilton, who went by the stage name lil Ot. Several videos of his work are posted online and on social media.
An eyewitness told CP24 on Tuesday that he tried to help the victim, who appeared to have been shot in the neck, by applying pressure on his wounds until first responders arrived.
The man, who asked to not be identified, said he was in a nearby restaurant when he heard three shots and some commotion, but couldn’t make out exactly what was said.
The witness went on to say that he saw one person whom he believed was involved in the shooting getting into a black SUV, as a white SUV drove off simultaneously.
CP24’s Beatrice Vaisman showed the man photos of the victim from social media and he confirmed that it was the same artist known as Lil OT.
Police appealing for information
“We are going to be asking for anybody that might have security video, anybody that might have dashcam video from the area of the parking lot, the surrounding streets … contact our major crime investigators,” Const. Jeff Dillon told reporters at the scene on Tuesday morning.
Investigators were unable to comment on a possible motive for the shooting.
“We do believe that this was a targeted incident. We don’t believe there is any known risk to public safety,” Dillon said.
No other injuries have been reported.
“Unfortunately, one young man lost his life but when you are in a wide-open parking lot like this and you have a gun being fired, (it’s) obviously quite lucky that nobody else was struck,” he added.
This investigation is ongoing and anyone with further information is asked to contact Halton Regional Police Service or Crime Stoppers anonymously.
With files from CP24’s Beatrice Vaisman and Steve Ryan and CTV News Toronto’s John Musselman
