The Crown attorney has stayed all charges against two brothers after the Calgary Police Service (CPS) arrested them over a fatal shooting outside a northeast strip mall. It's led CPS to make an extraordinary apology for their actions.CPS responded by saying it recognizes these charges “will have impacted these two young men, their family and the community in very significant ways, and for that we apologize unreservedly.”“As your police service, we have a responsibility to ensure public safety in Calgary and to hold offenders to account — most particularly in dangerous and deadly situations such as this one,” said CPS. “At the same time, we have a responsibility to ensure that no one enters the criminal justice system who should not rightly be there.”CPS started off by saying the charges laid against the brothers in relation to the homicide of Ali were stayed after new evidence came to light. Following the shooting that occurred last week, CPS responded to the area and received valuable information from witnesses to the incident, which turned its attention upon a particular vehicle driving away. It called this “the beginning of a complex chain of events that led to the arrest of numerous individuals, the execution of warrants on two homes and two vehicles, and ultimately, a case was made that supported the charges.” In coming to a decision to lay these charges, homicide investigators were acting upon the information and evidence available to them up to that point.New evidence came to light that caused investigators to believe the brothers were not responsible for the shooting. As soon as investigators received this contradictory evidence and were satisfied with its reliability, they notified the Alberta Crown Prosecution Service, which led to the charges being stayed. It has reached out to the community and the family of the brothers to offer support and provide additional answers. CPS concluded by saying it will arrange for an independent review, which will examine the circumstances leading to the arrest and charges. “As this investigation remains ongoing, we are committed to bringing justice to the family of the deceased, as well as those injured in this brazen shooting,” it said. “There’s video evidence that in my mind conclusively shows the two individuals were not the individuals who committed the offence,” said the young brother’s defence lawyer Jim Lutz in a Tuesday press conference covered by the Calgary Herald. “The physical description of that individual does not match that of my client.” Two brothers were charged after the shooting in Marlborough Park on November 13, leaving one man dead and two others injured.READ MORE: Two Calgary brothers, one 14, charged for broad daylight shooting at Calgary mallA 14-year-old male had been charged with one count of first-degree murder and two counts of attempted murder. His 18-year-old brother had been charged with one count of accessory after the fact to murder. They were scheduled to appear in court on Thursday.Lutz said a video circulating on social media of the murder is the likely reason the younger brother was exonerated. Crown attorney Janice Walsh told Youth Court Justice Gary Cornfield she would not be proceeding with charges against the 14-year-old, who cannot be named because of provisions under the Youth Criminal Justice Act. “You should have a three-count information,” said Walsh. “With regards to that information, the Crown directs a stay on that three-charge information.” The brothers were facing charges for the death of Calgary resident Rami Hajj Ali, 23. At the time, CPS said officers attended Marlborough Park around 2 p.m. for reports of a shooting. “Upon arrival, officers located a deceased man, as well as a man and woman suffering from gunshot wounds,” said CPS. “The two surviving victims were transported to hospital.”While CPS said the survivors were in stable condition, it has not updated their status. Minutes after the shooting, it observed a black truck driving at high speeds in Calgary’s northeast and southeast, and a police helicopter was brought in. It added the truck was followed to Chinook Centre where two occupants moved to another vehicle. Two suspects were later arrested at separate residences on 30A Ave. S.E. in Dover.Lutz said his client, who appeared in court from the Calgary Young Offenders Centre, faced no other charges and was to be released from custody.Before his appearance, the older brother appeared via video link before Calgary Court of Justice Justice Allan Fradsham. Crown attorney Heather Morris entered a stay against the older brother on the charge he was facing.The older brother’s lawyer Andrea Urquhart said her client, who cannot be named to protect the younger one’s identity, was relieved at the decision.“My client has maintained his innocence along with the innocence of his younger brother since the moment he was arrested,” said Urquhart. “He is grateful to the Calgary prosecutor for staying his charge and looks forward to understanding how this could have happened.”
