The Suya Spot, an Ottawa eatery with a troubled past, will be asked to close its doors on Shillington Avenue after a homicide occurred over the weekend in its parking lot.



The shooting, which claimed the life of 26-year old Abdi Jama, marks the fourth incident involving gun violence outside the restaurant in the past three years.



Residents of the area have been vocal about their desire to see the establishment closed. Police have labelled it a problem property, and Riley Brockington, city councillor for the ward, called for the establishment to be closed hours after Sunday’s shooting.



On Monday morning, the property’s landlord requested an emergency meeting with Brockington to discuss the issues with The Suya Spot.



According to Brockington, the restaurant will be asked to leave the plaza by the landlord.



“I shared the wishes of the community with him and indicated it is time to sever the lease and acquire a tenant that would be a much better fit for the community. He didn’t disagree,” said Brockington. “We agreed to meet later this week to discuss next steps.”



Brockington would not disclose the identity of the plaza’s landlord. He said the landlord was very troubled by the shooting death that occurred on his property Sunday.



Brockington also said the landlord was unaware of the efforts by police and Ottawa bylaw at the address. The landlord plans to meet with the owner of The Suya Spot immediately and then report back to the city councillor.



Attempts to reach the owners of The Suya Spot were unsuccessful. A phone number given for the establishment rings through to an Ottawa property management firm.



The other shootings on the property, located at 1319 Shillington Ave., include a November 2015 shooting involving bullets being fired at a vehicle parked outside the restaurant. In August 2014, 17 shots were fired in the parking lot outside The Suya Spot by an assailant. In October 2013, a drive-by shooting near the establishment sent a man to hospital with chest wounds.



The Suya Spot is supposed to be a restaurant serving African barbecue, but has gained a reputation for being more of an after-hours night club. Parties at the basement eatery often rage until the sun comes up and people living around the business say it isn’t uncommon to see large crowds of people milling about the parking lot early in the morning.



“They hang around outside that place like they own it,” said Poncho Stevenson, 52, who lives in the area. “It’s bad.”



Police have admitted to community activists that the restaurant has been a big problem. In a series of emails obtained by the Sun, Ottawa Police Service Const. Joe Defranco admits “hundreds of hours have been dedicated by the Ottawa Police Service to the issues surrounding this establishment.”



Police responded to reports of multiple shots being fired in the parking lot of The Suya Spot around 6 a.m. on Sunday. When they arrived, police found no victims of a shooting, but a subsequent call from the nearby Royal Ottawa Hospital reported a man in critical condition had been dropped off at the mental health institution.



Doctors attempted to help the man until paramedics could arrive in an attempt to rush him to the Ottawa Civic Hospital for treatment. The Royal Ottawa Hospital is not equipped to deal with trauma victims. The victim was pronounced dead at the Civic Hospital.



Jama had been inside The Suya Spot until the early morning hours prior to going out into the parking lot with others, where he was later shot.

Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated in the headline that the landlord was forcing The Suya Spot to close. In fact, the landlord will ask The Suya Spot to close.