Accused in shooting incident hoping for bail

By Delon Shurtz - Lethbridge Herald on June 29, 2022.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDdshurtz@lethbridgeherald.com

A Lethbridge man who was charged in relation to a shooting last December and then denied bail the following month in provincial court, still hopes a higher court will release him from custody.
Bira Jamal Ahmed was scheduled for a detention review Monday in Lethbridge Court of Queen’s Bench, but his review was adjourned after defence said the accused’s surety was unable to attend. A surety is typically someone who enters into an agreement with the court to supervise an accused while that person is out on bail. The surety may also pay bail or promise to pay a certain amount of money should the accused breach any bail conditions.
Ahmed, 24, who was initially denied bail in January in Lethbridge provincial court, is charged with aggravated assault, assault with a weapon, discharging firearm with intent to endanger life, possession of a weapon dangerous to the public, using a firearm in the commission of an offence, unauthorized possession of a firearm, possession of a loaded/restricted firearm, possession of a firearm obtained by the commission of an offence, and failure to comply with a release order.
Police responded to a report of a shooting just after 10:30 p.m. Dec. 29 outside a residence in the 800 block of 7 A Avenue North. A 49-year-old Lethbridge man was taken to hospital with a gunshot wound and was listed in stable condition with non-life-threatening injuries.
Police said a verbal altercation between two men turned violent after one of the men left then returned later in the day and fired a gun during a second altercation.
Police were unable to find a suspect immediately after the shooting, but about noon the following day officers stopped a vehicle in the 3200 block of 1 Avenue South and arrested two individuals. One of the individuals was released without charges.
Investigators said the suspect and victim previously knew each other, and the incident was not random.

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