A man is dead and a woman is in hospital after an apparent shooting outside the River Cree Casino west of Edmonton early Saturday morning.

The Stony Plain RCMP were called to the casino at 1:26 a.m. by reports of fighting inside the Touch Lounge, a nightclub inside the resort. While police were on their way, the fight moved out of the club.

A few minutes later, the man was dead outside the casino's main entrance.

"RCMP officers attended, and there were fights outside as well, and they reported that a shooting had just occurred by the front doors of the River Cree Casino," explained Stony Plain RCMP spokeswoman Const. Barb Roy. "I can confirm that there is one male deceased. There was a female also injured, and taken to an Edmonton hospital."

Cort Gallup was inside the casino when the incident happened. He said he heard a little bit of commotion outside, and then someone nearby said that there had been a shooting.

He didn't quite believe it so he went out front to look, but said he soon regretted it.

"This guy was face down on the pavement," Mr. Gallup said "There was a bunch of people running around screaming."

The victim appeared to have a serious head wound, he said.

"He died right there."

The victim is believed to be in his mid-20s.

Casino customers were moved away from the scene, and the parking lot was shut so no one could leave until all the cars could be checked, Mr. Gallup said.

Stony Plain RCMP had general investigators and drug-section officers working on the case. Edmonton's forensic identification officers and the Edmonton Major Crimes Unit were also called out.