Three teenagers were injured during a drive-by shooting just after midnight Monday on a residential street on the south side of St. Albert.
RCMP public information officer Troy Savinkoff said the shooting was linked to an brief altercation earlier between two groups of people.
“Our initial investigation has revealed that these individuals, these victims, were on a road called Grovesner Blvd. and they had a brief confrontation with a white minivan with tinted windows,” Savinkoff said at a news conference Monday afternoon.
The teens drove away from the area but were followed by the van, RCMP said. The shooting then happened a few blocks south at the intersection of Levasseur Road and Grandin Road.
“Once at that location, they heard gunshots and their windows were smashed, and ultimately they suffered their injuries,” Savinkoff said.
The van fled west on Levasseur Road while the teens drove into the adjacent Heritage Lakes neighbourhood to get help. RCMP then responded around 12:50 a.m. Monday to the nearby Hunchak Way.
A 17-year-old boy was shot and taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries, Savinkoff said, adding the other two teens — a 16-year-old girl and 17-year-old boy — suffered minor injuries and police said they were not injured by the bullets.
A description of the shooter or any other suspects is not yet available.
“What we have from our witnesses right now is that they saw the van and heard the shots,” Savinkoff said.
Savinkoff said all three are stable and the boy was undergoing surgery and was expected to recover.
Police said given it was a beautiful long weekend evening, even with the late hour there were people outside in the area enjoying the weather and those witnesses have been interviewed — but more information is still needed.
RCMP are looking for home surveillance or dashcam footage from the Grandin, Riel or Heritage Lakes neighbourhoods, recorded between 12:30 and 1 a.m. Monday, that may show the van.
RCMP called in the assistance of the Edmonton Police Service’s Air 1 helicopter to try and track down the van with tinted windows, but as of publishing it had not been found.
Anyone with info is asked to call St.Albert RCMP at 780-458-7700 . If you wish to remain anonymous, you can contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS), online at www.P3Tips.com or by using the “P3 Tips” app available through the Apple App or Google Play Store.