Bystander shot in Hobbema gang incident

A 22-year-old woman is in stable condition aftershots were fired on her home in a suspected gang-related incident on the Samson Cree First Nation near Hobbema, Alta., early Friday.

"We're still trying to find out why this house was targeted, but right now, we believe it was simply that the woman was inside a house that was targeted rather than her individually or someone in that house being targeted," said RCMP Sgt. Patrick Webb.

Police were called to the house at about 1:15 a.m. and a suspect was tracked down by an RCMP police dog several blocks away at another house.

The suspect was with other adults and children, and police believed he had a large-calibre rifle. They sealed off the area and set up a command post.

After RCMP got the others safely out of the home, they arrested a 20-year-old man around 6:30 a.m.

Police said they believe the shooting was gang-related and charges are pending. The suspect is a "known Hobbema gang member," police said.

"The person we investigated was known to police and we still don't know the degree of their involvement as of yet and that is still part of the investigation," Insp. Lawrence Aimoe said.

Woman wasn't intended target: witness

Billy Yellowface said he was in the house with his family at the time of the shooting.

He said the victim is his wife's niece, who had been staying with the family for the last couple of months.

"My son just hollered and [the woman] jumped up and she was bleeding from the abdomen," Yellowface said.

The woman wasn't the intended target of the shooting, Yellowface said.

He said this is the sixth time his house has been the target of bullets.

"[The gang is]after my sons," he said. "They killed one ofthem and he was only 16. That same bunch, too."

Echoes toddler's shooting

Friday's shooting has echoes of another gang-related incident in Hobbema two years ago in which a 23-month-old girl was wounded when hit by a stray bullet in a drive-by shooting that pierced the wall of a house.

Asia Saddleback recovered but will have a bullet in her spine for the rest of her life because doctors decided it would be too risky to remove it.

Christopher Crane, 20, was sentenced last month to five years in prison for the shooting and six years for robbery, in addition to two years forother offences.

The judge gave him four years credit for two years spent in custody.