WATCH ABOVE: A weapons complaint and suspected arson in southwest Edmonton could have much worse had it not been for a brave neighbour. Lisa Wolansky explains.
EDMONTON — An Edmonton man is being hailed a neighbourhood hero after he tackled a suspect wanted in connection with a weapons complaint and fire at the same south side address.
“It seemed like the appropriate thing to do: to deal with him immediately,” said the witness, who has asked to remain anonymous.
The ordeal happened Tuesday afternoon in the Terwillegar area.
Edmonton fire crews were called to a blaze at a home on Sandin Way around 3:20 p.m. Police officers also responded to a request from Edmonton Fire Rescue for scene containment when a weapons complaint was received for the same Sandin Way address.
Police were told that a man illegally entered a nearby home and left with a backpack containing several firearms.
After a brief altercation with a witness, the man allegedly dropped the backpack and ran away. The witness tells Global News he was working out on his deck when he heard a commotion from a nearby home.
“As I turned around I saw the tail end of a strange fellow going over the fence,” he said Wednesday.
Wanting to know what was going on, the witness went over to the fence.
“Below me is this guy picking himself up off the dirt and a large duffle bag full of a couple shotguns and hunting rifles and a couple carbines, which I thought was peculiar and a little odd.”
The man says he only had a short time to figure out what to do, so he decided to “deal with the guy.”
“As soon as I identified that the weapons were not airsoft guns—that they were in fact real—the only thing that came to my mind is that somebody running about in the neighbourhood with a duffle bag of guns probably doesn’t plan good things for them.
“He didn’t really agree to the idea of leaving the weapons there. We had ourselves a bit of a tussle and after he picked himself up off the ground he decided to bolt and find his own way off,” said the witness.
The witness then called 911 and after hearing the address, the dispatcher asked the man if there was also a fire at the home. The witness says he hadn’t smelled smoke or seen the fire yet, but once he looked back at the home there was in fact a fire.
Firefighters quickly arrived on scene to put out a fire that was found in an upstairs bedroom inside the home. The fire was successfully brought under control. The total cost of the damages has not been confirmed. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
No one was home at the time. Police continue to search for a suspect.
Investigators are asking anyone who has information about the incident or can identify the individual responsible to call the EPS non-emergency complaint line at 780-423-4567 or #377 from a mobile phone. Anonymous information can also be submitted to Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or online.
The following pictures were sent to Global News by the witness, who has asked to remain anonymous.
With files from Emily Mertz, Lisa Wolansky, Global News.
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