Gunman sentenced to 15 years for hotel shooting

A man who fatally shot another man inside a southeast Calgary hotel room has been sentenced to 15 years in prison. Ahmed Abdi Hassan, 31, pleaded guilty to manslaughter with a firearm in the March 25, 2024, death of Liban Abdirahman at a Super 8 hotel on Shawville Road S.E. Justice Chidinma Thompson accepted the joint Crown and defence submission Monday after Hassan initially faced a second-degree murder charge.

According to agreed facts read in court, Hassan and Abdirahman had travelled from Edmonton to Calgary with a third man and were staying in a room with a female acquaintance. The two men consumed alcohol and cocaine throughout the night. While Hassan was away from the room, he spoke by phone to the female resident and could hear the men arguing in the background.

When Hassan returned, he shot Abdirahman seven times from the doorway of the hotel room. Three shots struck Abdirahman in the back of his body, including one to the back of his head that penetrated his frontal lobe. Crown prosecutor Margot Engley cited multiple aggravating factors in justifying the 15-year sentence, including that Hassan was armed with a semi-automatic handgun and regularly carried it, and that the victim was shot from behind.

Defence counsel Balfour Der noted his client's guilty plea spared the victim's family from a full trial and demonstrated remorse. Hassan must serve a minimum of half his sentence in custody.