A Calgary man shot point-blank during a confrontation in the city’s southeast in July is sharing details of the harrowing experience that severed his spinal cord and left him in a wheelchair.
Nick Langridge said he was about to turn out the lights and go to sleep at around 4 a.m. on Sunday, July 4, when the power to his mobile home went out and he heard a loud bang.
He went outside and found two of his neighbours at the Oasis Mobile Home Park also out investigating. It was then that they heard another loud noise and saw a stranger walk into the park.
“We’re a very tight-knit community so we know who’s a stranger and who’s a friend of a resident,” Langridge said.
They asked the man what he was doing and Langridge said he mumbled something and started walking away. They followed the stranger, who began to run.
“I had concerns about him coming through the park, especially being four o’clock in the morning,” Langridge explained.
“He was acting extremely suspicious.”
“I heard a car alarm going off, so initially I was concerned that he was trying to break into vehicles and then coming into the park to look for other opportunities to break into stuff.”
Langridge said he caught the man and grabbed him by the back of his jacket.
“I threw him to the ground,” Langridge said. “I’m pretty sure he had his hand on the gun already because before I could even stop and turn around, the shot went off, hit me and I dropped.”
“I pretty much immediately knew that the shot had hit me, just the way that I felt my legs give out from under me.
“My body dropped hard.”
“While I was laying there I remember looking back over my left shoulder and I could see that my left foot was twisted really bad. I think that it twisted from the fall.
“Immediately, I had zero feeling or movement in my legs so I knew at that point that it was most likely paralysis.
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“Then I heard the second shot, which hit my neighbour in the toe.”
Langridge said one of his neighbours managed to hold the man down and take his gun. About five minutes later police arrived, followed closely by paramedics and firefighters.
“He was arrested and I was taken into the ambulance.”
“I wasn’t thinking about weapons when I decided to stop him. I just wanted to make sure that he wasn’t trying to break into any neighbours’ houses or vehicles or steal anything.”
“Because of the shock and the adrenaline, I didn’t feel any pain from the shot, but my brain was still like 100 per cent clear.
“I could see and understand what was going on around me perfectly well.”
As it turns out, the man charged with shooting Langridge had allegedly been involved in a car crash nearby before walking into the mobile home park.
Officers responding to the shooting found a white vehicle rolled on its side with broken windows.
Langridge believes the initial crash is what caused the power outage, saying the vehicle must have hit a transformer.
The second noise, he said, must have been the man kicking the window out of the vehicle to escape.
Langridge is a self-employed commercial flooring contractor and said he won’t be able to return to work for some time due to his severe injury.
Now paralyzed from the stomach down, Langridge hopes to have his van converted so he can continue to drive.
“I’ll probably have about a six-month break between work, just to deal with healing rehab getting my life reorganized,” he said.
A GoFundMe account has been set up by Langridge’s brothers with the hopes of helping him transition to his “new normal.”
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“I don’t have like benefits. I’ve never opted to get myself any insurance plans or anything so I’ve got a few dollars basically from remaining billing,” Langridge said.
He said he recognizes many of the names of people who have donated.
“I honestly cannot express my gratitude to everybody that’s been there throughout this, everybody that’s personally helped me, everybody that’s gotten involved in sharing and donating in the GoFundMe.
“I’m unbelievably grateful for the help that everybody’s provided.
“Honestly the most important part of getting through this is staying positive because otherwise, it makes it far more difficult to deal with the situation.
“I feel like the positive outlook has helped with the healing process, and just having that motivation to push through with the physiotherapy and make sure that I’m going to be able to get back to life as strong as possible.”
The man accused of shooting Langridge is 19-year-old Jason Marc Leduc, who is now out on bail. He’s facing numerous charges, including attempted murder and dangerous driving.
“In total, he’s got the two counts of attempted murder and 11 other counts, involving the other things related,” Langridge said. “I’m honestly kind of shocked at the fact that bail was offered.”
– With files from Sarah Offin