Police have identified the victim in a fatal overnight shooting in downtown Hamilton.

Tyler Johnson, 30, was shot in front of a restaurant on King Street West at Caroline early on Saturday morning.

"Shortly after 3 a.m.," Det. Paul Hamilton said in a news release, "an altercation occurred between two groups of men outside a restaurant located at 217 King St. W."

The conflict, he said, "quickly escalated when one man produced a handgun and shot the victim."

Emergency crews found Johnson without vital signs lying in the Tim Hortons parking lot next to the restaurant where the shooting occurred, said James Summers, a spokesman for the Hamilton Paramedic Service.

Paramedics transported Johnson to Hamilton General Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

The homicide is Hamilton's 13th of year — the highest annual number in more than a decade.

The Hamilton police’s homicide unit is investigating the fatal shooting. Anyone with information on Johnson's death is asked to to call Det. Jason Cattle at 905-546-4123 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.

'I don't feel safe,' store owner says

The same parking lot was also the site of a deadly stabbing earlier this year. On Sept. 15, a 18-year-old man died after being stabbed in the parking lot of the Tim Hortons on King Street near Caroline, situated just east of Hess Village.

A 49-year-old Hamilton man has been charged with first-degree murder in the September killing.

The two slayings raise major safety concerns for people who live and work in the area, said Samir Seif, owner of Big Bee, a convenience store located on the southwest corner of King West and Caroline.

“I don’t feel safe,” he told CBC Hamilton on Saturday morning. “It’s been less than three months since the [Sept. 15 stabbing] happened.”

Seif calls for a stronger police presence in the central Hamilton neighbourhood.

“We need more security because there are lots of bars in this area,” he said.

“There’s a lot of problems. I think it’s bad sign.”