The fatal shooting outside Elmvale Acres Shopping Centre in Ottawa early Tuesday morning was not random, Ottawa Police said Tuesday afternoon.

Gunfire hit a 20-year-old woman and a 23-year-old man sitting in a parked car in a parking lot around 1 a.m. on Sept. 19 near Othello Avenue and Pleasant Park Road, a news release said.

The car involved in the shooting sits behind police tape in the parking lot beside Elmvale Acres Shopping Centre.
(SRC)

The woman died of her injuries, while the man with her was sent to hospital with gunshot wounds, where he was reported to be in serious condition Tuesday night.

As of Wednesday morning, police still had no suspects in the case.

On Tuesday morning, the vehicle the victims were in, a black Honda Accord, remained in the parking lot off St. Laurent Boulevard, covered by a yellow tarp, CBC Radio reported from the scene. Around the car, a section of the parking lot was empty, cordoned off by police tape.

Police were stopping passersby to question them about the incident.

Neighbourhood resident Karl Connor told a CBC reporter he heard four or five muffled shots just before 1 a.m. Tuesday, but initially thought the noise was "a couple of kids just firing off firecrackers or maybe shooting a gun in the air."

A few minutes later, he heard the roar of police squad cars approaching the parking lot. He looked out the window to see them surrounding the black car. Ambulances followed, he said. Then he saw a person being taken out of the passenger side door of the car.

The Ottawa police force's major crime unit is investigating the incident.