After an ordinary night visiting friends, 26-year-old Nnamdi Ogba likely wanted nothing more than to return home to his fiancée. Instead, he would be gunned down on an Etobicoke street before he even reached his car.

“The only thing that led to his death was simply walking out of that building at that particular time and place,” said homicide Det. Jason Shankaran. “Nnamdi was an innocent man.”

Police responded to the scene at Scarlett Rd. and Scarlettwood Ct., near the Humber River, after receiving a call regarding reports of gunshots around 11 p.m. Friday. There they found Ogba, lying unresponsive on the ground, bleeding from multiple gunshot wounds to the back. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police say Ogba never saw his attackers, who approached from behind. All the evidence in the case so far leads homicide investigators to believe that Ogba was an innocent casualty in a retaliation against the Scarlettwood Ct. neighbourhood as a whole — a neighbourhood Ogba didn’t even live in.

On Monday, Shankaran stood sombrely at a podium in 23 Division and updated the media with surveillance clips taken of the suspects and the vehicle they arrived in. The various clips show two hooded male figures leaving their vehicle, following Ogba at a distance before converging upon him out of view of the camera and then fleeing past cameras back to their SUV.

The vehicle is believed to be a newer model Nissan Rogue.

In some clips, directly after Nnamdi has been shot, there are distant flashing lights visible. These aren’t police lights; they’re Nnamdi’s car headlights flicking on and off. His car key was in his hand when he fell, police say.

“We do not believe Nnamdi knew his attackers, nor do we believe that his attackers had any interaction with Nnamdi prior to ambushing him from behind. He was merely visiting friends who live within the complex,” Shankaran said.

“I know that the community of Scarlettwood Ct. has received its share of tragedy and also violence. I believe that the suspects are likely to have come from a different neighbourhood, considering what we see on the video. I believe that these suspects may harbour some kind of animosity towards the neighbourhood of Scarlettwood Ct., and those residents who reside in it.”

The footage is grainy, but police are confident that anyone familiar with the suspects will be able to identify them. Anyone who wishes to report an anonymous tip can also call Crime Stoppers.

“He had no criminal record, and no known gang affiliation. Nnamdi was an electrical engineer. He had a fiancée. He was about to be married,” Shankaran said.

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“I ask that you look into your heart at this particular situation. This situation was not one gang member shooting another. It’s an innocent man being gunned down walking to his car, going to see his fiancée. And for that reason, I ask for your help.”

Police believe that the only motive was neighbourhood retaliation, and that who exactly died that night did not matter to the killers. If the suspects had encountered another person first, Ogba might still be alive, they said.

“I think there can only be one word to describe them and that’s cowards,” said Shankaran of the two men police are hoping to find.

“To feign braveness or toughness by walking up to someone and shooting them in the back — you’re not so brave. You’re just a coward.”