Police are investigating the city’s fifth homicide of the year after a shooting in a Mill Woods restaurant Saturday night.
Officers responded to a call of a shooting inside Mama Pizza lounge at 2815 Mill Woods Road around 10:30 p.m.
They found two injured men one had been shot in the shoulder, the other in the leg.
Officials on scene said 29-year-old Blair Michael Cunningham died as a result of his injuries while a 31-year-old man was being treated in hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
Staff Sgt. Warren Driechel said those involved knew each other.
Police have been searching for a 20-year-old suspect described as a mulatto man with short dark hair. He stands about 5’9 with a stocky build. He was last seen wearing a coat over a hoodie.
Some residents tell CTV News while the incident is unfortunate they are not concerned for their safety.
“I think any city you go to they’re all the same. I still feel safe in the city,” Blayne Iskw said.
Sydney Eton who works in the area said it was scary to hear but she isn’t afraid of the community.
“I don’t feel unsafe because there’s billions of people out there,” she explained adding she usually took the bus to work.
Others question the brazen behavior of the suspects.
“Who could do something so close to the cop station,” Feliclien Mufuta asked.
Mufuta described how he had been in the area last night but had left about 30 minutes before the incident.
“I just live down the road so it is pretty scary,” the father of two said.
Police believe there were about 40 or 50 people were in the diner at the time of the incident.
“It’s alarming to us that it would occur in a public place,” Driechel said.
An autopsy has been planned for Tuesday afternoon.
Anyone with information has been asked to contact police at 870-423-4567 or by dialing #377 on their mobile phone.
With files from Jeff Harrington
