A 17-year-old teen shot dead late Wednesday night in the Lewis Estates neighbourhood was a popular Grade 12 student at Ross Sheppard High School.

Students outside the school identified 17-year-old Russell Haidar as the city's 45th homicide victim.

Police were called to a playground near Picard Drive and Proctor Wynd shortly after 11 p.m., where they found the teen who had been shot. He died a short time later in hospital

An autopsy revealed he died from a gunshot wound, Edmonton police spokeswoman Patrycia Thenu said Friday. Detectives are still looking for witnesses and believe the killing "was not a random act," she said.

When Himanshu Sharma, 17, first met Haidar a couple of years ago at the nearby Westmount Shopping Centre, he thought he was a "bad ass." But that first impression quickly changed when he was won over by Haidar's quick smile and easy manner.

"He was a nice guy, a sweetheart," Sharma said. "He was really funny, a jolly person."

Sharma was shocked when his dad told him about the shooting. Haidar "never fought," he said.

Grade 10 student Jordan Halabi, 15, said Haidar would often come over to his house and the two would watch movies like Super Troopers in his basement. Haidar would come and watch whenever a group played football, but wasn't an athlete himself. The two were both Lebanese kids living in the west end, which made them like family, Halabi said.

"My mom loved him," Halabi said. "He was like a big brother."

Seventeen-year-olds Hannah Ruske and Angelique Dusseault, both Grade 12 students, remembered a loud and boisterous guy who always smiled as he worked the school hallways.

Dusseault said Haidar would smile, put his arm around her neck and invite her to hang out. He had a great sense of humour and was a big fan of "funny music" like Jamaican reggae star Vybz Kartel.

Haidar had "made some bad choices", Dusseault said, but he didn't deserve to die.

"When he cared about somebody, he had their back," she said. "He was just a good guy."

A Facebook group set up in Haidar's memory had 122 members by Friday afternoon.



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