Editor’s note: The list of charges in this story has been amended following new information from the Edmonton Police Service.
New details are coming to light about the heroic efforts of city staff that likely prevented additional violence Tuesday morning, as a shooter opened fire inside Edmonton City Hall.
Just after 10:15 a.m., police said a man parked his vehicle in city hall’s underground parkade and entered the building. He lit several handheld incendiary devices, believed to be Molotov cocktails, that ignited a fire outside an elevator. Police said the man then fired several rounds from a gun into the ceiling, walls and windows.
No one was struck by gunfire or injured in the incident.
Global News has learned a staff member who works in the office where councillors work rode the elevator with the shooter to the second floor.
Sources tell Global News the woman heard the gunman make disturbing comments on the phone, and she got a bad feeling about him.
Following her instincts, the woman got off the elevator on the second floor and quickly went into the wing where the councillors’ offices are located.
The gunman went in the direction where the mayor’s office is located.
The woman told two other people in the office about the man and called police. The people in the councillor’s office saw the man coming towards their office holding a gun.
Global News was told the shooter tried the door of the office which is typically locked.
Staff witnessed the suspect open fire, shooting randomly. They hid in the office’s photocopy room until help arrived.
Sources also tell Global News a different city staff member was with Grade 1 students in city council chambers when the shooting began.
They say the staff member went above and beyond to protect the children and keep them calm as loud bangs rang throughout the building.
Other students sheltered at the Stanley A. Milner Library across from city hall.
People there found the children snacks and distractions while police swarmed the scene and closed nearby roads.
After firing shots, police said the suspect dropped his gun on the floor and surrendered to a city hall security commissionaire, who detained him until police arrived moments later.
Mayor Amarjeet Sohi says the commissionaire has been working at city hall “for a while.”
“He knows city hall really well,” Sohi said in an interview with Global News Wednesday morning. “(I am) very appreciative of his involvement and how he handled the situation and got things under control. It could have been much, much worse.”
Edmonton police chief Dale McFee said the commissionaire was not armed.
“His actions were above and beyond, and for that we are grateful,” McFee said. “The individual acted, obviously, to detain the person. And I’m not sure if it was a tackle or what it was.”
In a statement, the Commissionaires of Northern Alberta, Northwest Territories and Nunavut division said the employee involved in detaining the suspect “went above and beyond his normal duties.”
The employee has been with the division since February 2023, and is a veteran of the Canadian military, having served as an infantry soldier for seven years.
“We are very proud of him and thank him for taking such bold and brave action to protect the public,” the statement read.
“All members of the Commissionaires security team at Edmonton City Hall performed their duties in a professional manner and demonstrated fearless efforts to protect the public and help secure the situation. We are proud of each of them and thank them for their personal efforts.”
Sohi said he has not spoken directly with the commissionaire but was thankful for his actions.
Commissionaires have been providing security in the Edmonton region for the past 85 years. The organization’s security services at city hall include video monitoring, access control, static security, foot patrols throughout the building, and security screening for people entering council chambers.
The mayor, who was working from home Wednesday, was inside the building during the shooting on Tuesday. He was asking questions of city administration during a committee meeting when shots rang out.
“I am feeling OK. The gravity of the event and how (much) worse it could have been is starting to sink in,” Sohi said. “This is an event that you don’t imagine at all. You don’t think about these things.
“Quick, prompt response from city hall security, as well as EPS (Edmonton Police Service) and fire rescue services, peace officers — it speaks to the prompt co-ordination that took place to get the situation under control.
“I really feel for everyone who was present at city hall during that horrifying, traumatizing event and the impact it is having on them.”
Bezhani Sarvar, 28, has been charged with reckless discharge of a firearm into place, use/place/throwing an explosive substance, arson to property, possessing incendiary material, use of a firearm while committing an offence and careless use of a firearm in connection with the incident.
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