A shooting at a Muslim cemetery that sent four people to hospital was not racially motivated, Alberta RCMP said Friday.
The shooting occurred Friday afternoon in the parking lot of the Cochrane cemetery following the funeral for a 21-year-old male.
"They are all of the same race. We do not believe it is racially motivated," Cpl. Sharon Franks, spokesperson for the RCMP in Southern Alberta, told reporters.
She said it appeared the shooting was not a random incident, but rather that a fight had broken out between a group of young men between the ages of 16 and 20. They are believed to have attended the funeral and remained afterwards in the parking lot.
At some point shots were fired.
"Obviously they were there to mourn a friend and a family member and this is one of those things that are hard to understand," Franks said.
The four male victims were taken to hospital in nearby Calgary with non-life threatening injuries, and are all expected to make a full recovery.
The victims are said to be co-operating with investigators.
Police are asking to speak with anyone who attended the funeral or who drove the shooting victims to hospital.
Police believe there is no danger to the public, however the shooter or shooters remain at large and there was a heavy police presence at Foothills Hospital in Calgary Friday evening, said CTV Calgary's Kathy Le.
Tactical police officers were posted at the hospital's entrances and inside the building with guns drawn, Le said.
Cochrane is located 18 kilometres west of Calgary.
