A man who worked as a security guard is facing several firearms and arson charges after shots were fired and a Molotov cocktail exploded inside Edmonton City Hall Tuesday morning.
Charges have been filed in court against a 28-year-old man named Bezhani Sarvar.
Sarvar is charged with reckless arson in an occupied property, possessing incendiary materials (Molotov cocktail), use of a firearm while committing an offence, careless use of a firearm (assault rifle), throwing an explosive substance and discharging a firearm into a building.
Police said late Wednesday afternoon an initial charge of knowingly possessing an unauthorized firearm was going to be dropped.
The Canadian Corps of Commissionaires is a national not-for-profit security provider and says it’s largest private sector employer of veterans. It released a statement Wednesday, saying the suspect was an employee but not assigned to work at city hall.
“We are aware of the identity of the individual who was arrested by police and can confirm that he was an employee of the Corps of Commissionaires,” the statement said.
“He had been employed by Commissionaires since 2019 and was assigned to a variety of locations within the Edmonton area but was never assigned to the security detail at city hall.”
It’s unclear at this point exactly what motivated the shooter at city hall.
The building was full of people when, just after 10:15 a.m. Tuesday, a man parked his vehicle in the building’s underground parkade and entered from the parkade access, according to a Wednesday update from police.
Once inside city hall, police said the man lit several “handheld incendiary devices” — believed to be Molotov cocktails — that caused a small fire outside an elevator.
Police said he then fired several rounds from a long gun into the ceiling, walls and windows.
The suspect was captured on security video inside city hall wearing a Commissionaires security jacket, a vest and a security shirt.
A video posted to YouTube the morning of the shooting, that has since been removed, showed Sarvar wearing a tactical-style vest and holding a large gun, speaking to the camera in a Persian language while smoking and sitting in a casual manner.
A second video showed Sarvar wearing a Commissionaire security jacket, as well as a blue shirt identical to what is seen in surveillance video of the shooter obtained by Global News.
In that video, which has also since been deleted from YouTube, Sarvar was sitting in a vehicle and talked about completing a mission and listed a wide range of concerns, including affordability, the housing crisis and immigration.
Global News has learned Sarvar lives in Edmonton with his wife and their young children.
His neighbours said Sarvar had always been kind to them — helpful even. They confirmed he works as a security guard.
The neighbours said he hadn’t caused any trouble at their apartment building and the family had been living there for a few years.
Mayor Amarjeet Sohi, several city councillors, the city’s fire chief, city staff and journalists were inside the building attending an emergency management committee meeting when shots rang out.
A Grade 1 class from Edmonton Public Schools was on a field trip to city hall when it was put on lockdown. The students were safely escorted outside and onto a bus to go back to school.
Members of a Global News crew at city hall said they and others were put into a lockdown sometime around 10:30 a.m. after several loud bangs were heard.
Edmonton Police Service chief Dale McFee said on Tuesday it appeared the suspect was heavily armed and shooting “randomly,” not necessarily at people.
An unarmed commissionaire — or city security guard — initially detained the shooter before police arrived to arrest the man. No one was injured.
The Wednesday update said the suspect dropped the gun on the floor and surrendered to the commissionaire, who detained him until police arrived moments later.
The Canadian Corps of Commissionaires said that commissionaire has been an employee since February 2023 and is a Canadian military veteran, having served as an infantry soldier for seven years.
“One of our employees on site was involved in detaining the armed individual and went above and beyond his normal duties as a Commissionaire,” the Commissionaires’ statement said.
“We are very proud of him and thank him for taking such bold and brave action to protect the public.”
EPS and RCMP tactical teams spent several hours sweeping the building to make sure it was safe. People who had been sheltering in various locations throughout city hall were then escorted out.
The RCMP said its Integrated National Security Enforcement Team (INSET) is engaged and actively working with the Edmonton Police Service on the investigation but did not release further information.
INSET is a multi-agency team led by the RCMP that investigates criminal activities of terrorist groups or people who pose a threat to Canada’s national security.
“Our officers are working closely with our national security partners on this investigation,” McFee said in a statement Wednesday.
“I would like to reassure the public that we believe there is no further threat to public safety at this time. The investigation is in its early stages, and we will continue to update Edmontonians as it progresses.”
Mayor Sohi acknowledged a lot of unanswered questions remain and asked the public to give police time to do their investigative work.
“I recognize that there is information circulating online being attributed to the alleged subject. Given that this is an active police investigation, I would like to ask everyone to allow time for the Edmonton Police Service to consider, assess and evaluate all information as part of their total investigative efforts,” Sohi said in a statement Wednesday night.
“While a lot of unanswered questions still remain, EPS has stated that this individual acted alone.
“It is wrong and dangerous to assume the actions of a single individual speak for any larger group. Racism and Islamophobia are already significant issues, and we cannot let the actions of one individual impact how we treat or perceive an entire community.”
Sarvar will appear at the Edmonton law courts for a bail hearing on Thursday.