Ottawa police are searching for Mohamed Abdi Abdullahi, 31, in relation to Thursday night's shooting. (provided) For the third time in less than a month, the Ottawa police guns and gangs unit is investigating a case of a man being shot twice in the legs.

In the most recent case, a man in his 20s was shot just after 7 p.m. on Horsdal Private, a short street near Conroy and Hunt Club roads in the city's south end.

Ottawa police are searching for the alleged shooter, 31-year-old Mohamed Abdi Abdullahi, who is believed to be armed and dangerous. He is described as five foot ten inches tall, 190 lbs. with black hair and brown eyes. Abdullahi is expected to be charged with several firearm offences, police said.

Andrew Hazard told CBC News that he heard five gunshots while mowing his lawn near Horsdal Private Thursday night. He said he recognized the man who was shot.

"He doesn't cause any trouble in the neighbourhood. I don't know why people would do that to him," he said. "He's a good guy."

The man's injuries were not life-threatening and he was taken to hospital in stable condition, police said. He refused to give a statement about the shooting, police said.

On Friday, the Ottawa police and RCMP bomb squad executed a search warrant on Topley Crescent, which is in the same neighbourhood as the scene of the shooting, shutting down the residential street for several hours. Police would not confirm if the operation was linked to the shooting.

On June 22, a 24-year-old man refused to provide a statement after being shot in each thigh in the ByWard Market around 2:30 a.m, Ottawa police said.

On July 1, a man went into the Ottawa Hospital with gunshot wounds to each leg around 3:30 a.m. but refused to disclose where the shooting happened, police said.

Anyone with information about any of the shootings is asked to call the guns and gangs unit at 613-236-1222, ext. 5050.