The woman slain by gunfire outside a Beltline bar Saturday morning appears to have been an innocent bystander, police say.

Calgary police are looking for a black male in his twenties in connection to the fatal shooting.

Police were called to the area outside Bronco Smokehouse Saloon at 1st Street and 11th Avenue S.W. shortly before 3 a.m., where a woman in her mid-twenties was found dead from a gunshot wound.

The victim was standing outside the nightclub with a group of friends at the time, police said.

“We are deeply concerned ... that some individuals were innocently having a conversation outside an establishment and one of them was shot and died,” said Staff Sgt. Michael Cavilla with the homicide unit.

Police interviewed 15 to 20 witnesses this morning, some of whom described seeing a young, black man at the scene, said Cavilla. There are no other suspect leads and no arrests have been made. Police have not yet recovered a weapon.

Though multiple shots were fired, they only hit the victim.

“It’s purely a godsend that more people were not hurt or injured in this incident given the number of shell casings we have at the scene,” said Cavilla.

There’s no indication that the shooting was gang-related, though Cavilla said it’s possible the shooter was targeting someone else in the vicinity.

Neither the victim nor her friends are known to police.

Police are currently reviewing security camera footage to determine if the weapon was fired from or near a vehicle.

Cavilla said the victim’s family has been notified.

“We are currently in contact with the family, (who are) obviously shocked and saddened by this.”

Kimberlee Robertson, who lives in the area, said she was woken up at 3 a.m. to around eight gunshots.

“Then (we) saw police rushing down 1st Street S.W.,” she said.

A woman who did not wish to be identified said the victim’s sister called 911 from a nearby condo after the shooting.

Police have cordoned off an area that extends from 10th to 12th Avenue S.W. between Centre and 1st Street S.W.

There were at least half a dozen police vehicles, including a forensics van, in the area Saturday morning.

The crime marks the city’s 23rd homicide of the year.

With files from Meghan Potkins

mkrishnan@calgaryherald.com

Twitter.com/manishakrishnan