Police have arrested an 18-year-old man after a hip-hop and reggae musician was shot and killed in Ottawa’s ByWard Market on Friday night.
- Read More on CTV Ottawa: ByWard Market shooting turns fatal
Markland Anthony Campbell, also known as Jahiant Janh, was shot around 9 p.m. as basketball fans crowded into nearby bars to watch the Toronto Raptors game.
Police said the shooting was targeted and they are seeking no other suspects.
Campbell’s collaborators in the group Halfsizegiants said their longtime friend had just finished work at the Shaw Centre and had gone to the area to defend his daughter after she was physically assaulted.
“Markland was maliciously gunned down defending the principle of righteousness he lived by,” Halfsizegiants said in a written statement.
Hailey Bercier said he was parked in his vehicle with his family when he heard three gunshots ring out. He quickly drove off.
“We’d seen people running across the street and they started screaming,” he told CTV Ottawa. “I was worried for the kids.”
James Harkness, who was Campbell’s friend and music video producer, was brought to tears by the news of the death.
“All I ever got from this man was peaceful,” he said. “Breaks my heart that he had to go like this.”
Campbell, 41, led an anti-violence concert in 1994 to protest the death of drive-by shooting victim Nicholas Battersby, according to the group.
