Three people are confirmed dead following an afternoon shooting at a Vietnamese restaurant in southeast Calgary.

The shootings occurred at Bolsa, a restaurant located in a strip mall off busy Macleod Trail.

Restaurant owner Viet Tran said he received a frantic phone call from his wife at about 4 p.m.

"She just said come right away, there's shooting in the restaurant," said Tran.

Calgary Emergency Services said paramedics declared all three victims dead at the scene.

Police said at least two gunmen entered the business and opened fire at a table situated in the middle of the restaurant.

Two people were killed inside while a third was found dead outside.

A silver vehicle was seen speeding from the scene.

"It's not the way we wanted to start the new year," said duty Insp. Dean LaGrange.

He said it was too early to determine if there was any connection to this morning's death outside a northeast bar, or whether gangs or drugs are involved.

Police have taped off the Macleod Plaza strip mall and are hoping video surveillance cameras in the area might aid their investigation.

About a dozen witnesses from inside the restaurant and the adjacent Regal Beagle pub are being interviewed by police.

Police are not confirming the three were shot, however the restaurant's owner said his wife told him that gunshots were fired inside the business.

The restaurant is located next to the Regal Beagle pub, where police are interviewing potential witnesses at this hour.

The deaths come hours after city recorded its first homicide of 2009.

A male in his 20s died in hospital earlier in the day following an altercation outside the northeast Coyote's Bar and Grill. Police were called to the strip mall bar at 1:36 a.m. with reports of a disturbance in the front parking lot.

When they arrived, the disturbance was over and three injured people were found. Two were taken to hospital and one died shortly after arriving.

There's no indication of any links between the deaths.

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