A man was taken to hospital after being injured in what police are calling a targeted shooting in Vanier.
Police say around 6:00 p.m. Wednesday night, three men confronted another man in the Burger King at Montreal Road and Hannah Street. A verbal altercation ensued, followed by the suspects shooting the victim multiple times. He was taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
Marc Laporte was having dinner inside the restaurant when gunfire erupted.
"I just ran out of the restaurant," said Laporte.
"It sounded like a firecracker at first and then it was just one after the other."
Police confirm that a car going through the drive-thru was also hit by a stray bullet. Laporte calls it one of the most terrifying moments of his life.
"I saw a man hunched over firing his gun at somebody who was sitting at a booth," said Laporte.
"It's an image that's going to stay with me for a while."
The three suspects fled the scene and remain at large. Police say the victim is known to them and believe the suspects and victim also knew each other.
"We have an isolated, targeted incident," said Constable Chuck Benoit of the Ottawa Police Service.
"We have one male victim in hospital in stable condition."
Vanier resident Roger Thibault wasn't shocked to hear news of the shooting.
"I just shook my head," said Thibault.
"It's a high-crime area."
Rideau-Vanier Councillor Mathieu Fleury says the restaurant has long been a concern for criminal activity.
"Specific to the site, we're having issues," said Fleury.
"There's regular drug exchange, and not in the parking lot, inside the store."
Fleury says he's tried to contact Burger King with no luck.
"We've tried to reach out to the franchise, we've had meetings with the store manager, and we've reported it to police," said Fleury.
"If I were Burger King today, I would bring top officials in to have a conversation with me and Ottawa Police and engage with the community, but we're struggling to get them involved or interested."
CTV reached out to Burger King Corporation but did not hear back.
The Guns and Gangs unit is investigating.