Edmonton's latest homicide victim mourned

Mourners at the funeral of Edmonton's latest homicide victim remembered the young man as as a happy teenager who looked out for his friends.

Russell Haidar, 17, died in hospital after a shooting in a park in the city's west end late Wednesday night.

Many of the people who came to pay their respects were teenagers, some dressed in black, hugging each other on their way into the north-end mosque. Hanging over the victim's friends was a feeling of numbness that he had been shot to death.

"Being in the wrong place at the wrong time, actually," said one friend who didn't want his name made public. "He's not the kind of kid that's in a gang, he was just a kid."

Haidar was found lying in the snow by Edmonton police after reports of gunfire in the upscale neighbourhood. He died of his wounds in hospital.

Police said the shooting was not random, but no arrests have been made and detectives are keen to hear from anyone who has information.

His family was too upset to speak at the funeral, but told CBC News the victim was 17, not 18 as had been reported earlier.

Haidar lived in the neighbourhood where he was found, said his friend Reef Pilgrim.

"This is the farthest place you'd think there would be a shooting," Pilgrim said, standing in the park where his friend was fatally late Wednesday night. "This just shows you that anything … it's all out there.

"You just need to watch yourself, because the wrong people might get mixed up with you and then … this happens."

Haidar had a "big smile; always willing to care for a guy; always willing to have your back," Pilgrim recalled. "It's just a sin that he's gone. I never saw this coming at all."

Haidar is Edmonton's 45th homicide victim of the year.

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