Two people were taken to hospital and an investigation is underway following an early morning shooting in north Edmonton.
Edmonton police were called to a weapons complaint in an alley in the area of 103 Street and 132 Avenue at about 3:50 a.m. Gunshots were heard coming from the alley during an incident involving several people, according to the Edmonton Police Service.
A woman who lives in the area, whose name Global News has agreed not to publish out of safety concerns, said she was outside at the time.
She said she saw two people walking through the back lane toward a vehicle.
“I could see them coming towards this direction and then I lost sight of them and all of a sudden, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang! Four or five shots,” she explained.
“Then the suspects ran away in the opposite direction they came from … It was really scary, quite shocking.”
She said it appeared there were two people in the car that was being shot at. She said the passenger of the vehicle got out and left the scene for a period of time before returning.
A man who also witnessed the incident, and whose name Global News has also agreed not to publish out of safety concerns, said it appeared the driver of the vehicle was shot. He said the passenger later returned and spoke to police on the scene.
He said the suspects were wearing dark clothing but otherwise he did not get a good look at them.
“All I saw was two backs running around the corner, I didn’t see faces.”
The woman said the ordeal was quite frightening.
“We know all of our neighbours. It is relatively quiet at night. Definitely not a place where shootings happen on a regular basis so I usually feel pretty safe in my own neighbourhood.”
The alleyway in the Lauderdale neighbourhood remained cordoned off by police tape later Friday morning. A black four-door sedan that was parked at the scene had a shattered passenger window.
Police said two males were taken to hospital, one with non-life-threatening injuries and the other in critical condition with what appears to be a gunshot wound. The ages of the males are not yet known, police said.
The EPS said it did not have a suspect or vehicle description at this time.