A 29-year-old man is in hospital after what Mounties are calling a frightening and brazen shooting at a busy sushi restaurant.

Police swarmed a strip mall in Surrey's Guildford neighbourhood around 8:30 p.m. Tuesday night after a targeted attack where up to seven gunshots were heard by witnesses.

"You could just hear 'pop, pop, pop, pop, pop," said John Morsette, who said he wasn't initially sure if the noise was leftover Canada Day fireworks.

"I heard a lot of sirens and the sirens wouldn't let up."

The victim, who is a Coquitlam resident, was sitting in a black Mercedes by himself outside of the Sushi Rei restaurant when he was injured. A bullet hole can be seen in the window of the restaurant, which just celebrated its grand opening.

The restaurant was full of staff and diners when gunshots rang out. Although they declined an on-camera interview, a family friend said the owners are fearful.

"Just scared I think. We've heard about this kind of thing sometimes happening in the Surrey area, but never heard this kind of thing happen to our close friends," the woman, who declined to give her name, told CTV News.

Initially listed in grave condition at Royal Columbian Hospital, the victim’s condition has been upgraded to stable and he is expected to survive.

The public nature of Surrey's latest shooting has Mounties concerned. Staff Sgt. Dale Carr said the force has assigned its "best people" on the case.

"It's frightening, it's brazen, and it's something again, that this community doesn't want to stand for," he said.

"We take it very, very seriously."

It's believed the victim is involved in criminal activity – he is known to police -- but it's too early to say if the incident is gang-related.

"It's certainly involving criminality, likely some sort of beef between two groups of people that are involved in criminality at one level or another," Carr told CTV News.

Mounties have not determined if the violence is related to recent shootings in the city.

Investigators remained at the scene throughout the evening and could be seen putting evidence into bags in the parking lot. A Mercedes and another vehicle were towed away from the area.

Shortly after the shooting a man on a motorcycle was detained by police, although he was released without charges the following morning.

Cpl. Scotty Schumann told CTV News the investigation eliminated the man as a suspect, and the rider was arrested after patrol officers spotted a person matching the suspect description.

Schumann said the man who was arrested was "in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Anyone with information is asked to call Surrey RCMP at 604-599-0502 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS.

With reports from CTV Vancouver’s Nafeesa Karim and Breanna Karsten-Smith