Rich Albert was just helping with late night weekend pizza deliveries in Edmonton when his life was changed forever.
The 55-year-old was standing beside the counter at the Pizza Hut To Go near 133 Street and 114 Avenue when a gunman opened the front door, shot him in the head and walked out.
The entire interaction took just six seconds — leaving the Edmonton man bleeding on the floor with a traumatic brain injury and wound that destroyed one of his eyes.
It happened at the takeout restaurant just off Groat Road, north of Westmount Mall in the Woodcroft neighbourhood, on March 12 — four days before two Edmonton Police Service officers were killed inside a large apartment complex just across the road.
The family of the man shot at the central Edmonton Pizza Hut is sharing more about what happened to him and the lengthy recovery Albert now faces.
“While Rich was at our local Pizza Hut helping out with delivering, a young male came into the Pizza Hut and shot Rich in the head in a random act of violence,” his wife Norma Albert wrote a statement posted to Facebook.
She went on to explain her husband was rushed in critical but stable condition to the University of Alberta Hospital where he was sedated, requiring help to breathe for several days in the neurosciences intensive care unit.
“He had good days and bad days and we are not out of the woods yet,” she shared in an update on March 23.
“He has lost his left eye and has a traumatic brain injury from the bullet going through his brain.”
Norma said her husband is showing some progression, “but this will be a very slow and fragmented road with rehabilitation. Thoughts and prayers are welcomed.”
Albert’s sister Leslie has launched a GoFundMe to support her sister-in-law.
“The days, months and possibly years ahead will be trying and difficult for Rich, his wife and his family as he begins the long process of healing and rehabilitation,” she wrote.
She said the goal is to raise money to help with medical costs, equipment, medication and rehabilitation that will be associated with this incident, as well as financial stress.
“It will be a long road to recovery with many expected and unexpected expenses.”
The fundraiser has a goal of $100,000. As of Tuesday evening, it was just shy of $11,000.
Edmonton police investigators said the gun used to shoot Albert at the Pizza Hut was also used to kill two of its officers on March 16 at Baywood Apartments.
“A bullet casing recovered from the scene of March 12th, 2023 shooting at a nearby restaurant have also been forensically matched to the firearm that was recovered at the apartment where Const. Brett Ryan and Const. Travis Jordan were fatally shot,” EPS Deputy Chief Devin Laforce said in an update last week.
Investigators also believe the teenager who shot his mother during a struggle before turning the gun on himself was behind both shootings.
On Monday, both officers were honoured with a procession through downtown Edmonton and a regimental funeral inside Rogers Place.