After a stranger allegedly attacked his car with a knife following a confrontation at a west Edmonton gas station, a man says he is concerned by how long it took police to respond.
Early Monday morning, Fry said he was walking out of a 7/11 convenience store gas station near 165 Street and 87 Avenue in the Meadowlark area, when he saw a man with black clothing and a black facemask trying to get into his car.
“That’s when I backed into the store, locked the door and then this guy just proceeded to walk back up to my car and then just started to… [plunge] a knife into my windshield, my headlight… my mirrors, my doors, just all around the car.”
Fry said he called 911 right away, but that it took police about an hour to respond which left him concerned.
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Edmonton police told Global News they received Fry’s call at 5:25 a.m. and explained the process behind how and when officers responded.
“At 5:28 a.m., it was reported that the suspect was leaving the area on foot,” Cheryl Voordenhout, a spokesperson for the Edmonton Police Service, told Global News in an email.
“The call was initially assigned a priority of three, which is a high-priority call, but was subsequently downgraded to priority four when the suspect left the area.
“The unit that was responding to the initial call was then rerouted to a nearby assault in progress that was also reported at around the same time.”
Voordenhout said that “this type of triaging is a necessary part of policing, as officers and police dispatch must make quick decisions in real time based on the information they have.”
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