A fun night hanging out with friends turned into a near-death encounter for a trio of teenagers in St. Albert this past September long weekend.
“It’s going to stick with them forever,” said Erin Donnelly.
Donelly’s 16-year-old daughter Kayte, her 17-year-old boyfriend and another 17-year-old friend were injured in a drive-by shooting just after midnight Monday on a residential street on the south side of the city directly north of Edmonton.
Global News reached out to, but did not hear back from, the parents of the other two teens, so they are not being named in this story to protect their identities as underage victims of crime.
Kayte was behind the wheel of an old Toyota sedan inherited from her great-grandmother; she had only been driving it for the past month after getting her licence.
The three teens were on the way home from a friend’s place, driving along Grovesner Boulevard, when Donnelly said they thought they saw a friend on the road. Her daughter’s boyfriend jokingly flipped them middle finger.
But it wasn’t their friend — it was a stranger inside a white van with tinted windows, and it began following the teens.
“Her spidey senses were going off, but nothing too concerning because he wasn’t speeding, he wasn’t driving erratically. It didn’t look like he was trying to catch up to them.”
But that all changed when the two vehicles got to a red light at the intersection of Levasseur and Grandin roads. Donnelly said her daughter was looking ahead when glass began exploding.
“She said the sound was like alarm bells right next to her ear and the smell of the gunshot.”
None of the teens got a good look at the driver of the van.
“Not a word was spoken between either party. There’s no eye contact between either party,” Donnelly said of the random attack.
“This man 100% was aiming to kill, right? You don’t shoot someone with a shotgun that close without intent.”
Donnelly said instinct took over her daughter: Kayte ducked her head and slammed on the gas. The van fled west on Levasseur Road while the teens drove into the adjacent Heritage Lakes neighbourhood to get help.
“Her adrenaline kicked in, in a healthy way in which she would get them to safety.”
The teens found a group of adults on a driveway along Hunchak Way who were socializing and enjoying the summer evening weather. The adults had heard the nearby gunshots and saw the car pull up around 12:50 a.m. Monday.
“We were sitting outside and we heard three gunshots, and then a car sped in and skidded to stop,” said a woman named Kerri. Global News agreed not to share her last name for safety reasons.
It was a chaotic scene as the adults jumped into action to help the teens who spilled out of the car. Kayte collapsed to the sidewalk, saying her head was ringing and her boyfriend had been injured.
“The boy ran out of the car, took his shirt off and said he thinks he was shot,” Kerri said.
Kayte’s boyfriend had two large wounds on his back, near his shoulder blades. Blood was dripping down his body as Kerri directed him to a chair and took off her own hoodie to press against the wounds.
He had been shot at such close range, Donnelly said.
“This guy was so close to them that the plastic casing on the bullet didn’t fully come off and ended up embedded in his back,” Donnelly said, adding she believes it was birdshot. Thankfully, the ammunition didn’t enter deep into his body cavity.
Kerri is a former EMT and said the boy’s lungs had been bruised but not penetrated. She sent a friend to grab her stethoscope from nearby while she sat with the shell-shocked teen, calmly guiding him through breathing exercises until paramedics arrived. Once they got there, she said she sat with Kayte and guided her through the same calming breathing exercises.
Kerri herself is still shaken.
“They’re kids and it’s unfortunate. It’s tragic. They needed help and I’m glad, you know, I was there to help them and I’m glad they’re OK. That’s the main thing.”
Donnelly said her daughter was hit in the head by some of the pellets from the shotgun, which also damaged the car. Their friend in the backseat wasn’t physically injured, but saw the violence go down in front of him.
“Which is even more traumatic because at least the other two had different focuses in that moment where he was just sort of stuck there witnessing it,” Donnelly said.
The boyfriend was taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries and underwent surgery. Police said he is expected to recover.
Police are still looking for the suspect vehicle. On Wednesday, RCMP released grainy nighttime surveillance images of the van believed to have been used in the shooting — the best images they have so far.
Police say they don’t believe the youth were targeted, but it’s little comfort for the teens and their parents.
“He is dangerous and he is unhinged,” Donnelly said of the shooter.
“He definitely knew what he was doing. He had multiple times to to make a different decision and he chose not to.”
The old Toyota, which Donnelly said her daughter kept in pristine condition, is now a reminder of what happened.
The inside is peppered with birdshot holes, the seats are stained with dried blood, the windows are blown out and there are holes in the doors where the shotgun shells went through them.
“Kayte was so excited to drive this and now she can’t even look at it,” her mom said.
Donnelly says her daughter does not feel safe on the road and won’t again until RCMP make an arrest. The trauma will linger for a long time.
“This is not is not going to go away overnight or even in a few months.”
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 the time of publishing it had not been found.
Anyone with information is asked to call St.Albert RCMP at 780-458-7700 . Those who wish to remain anonymous 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.