Two people from one vehicle were arrested, including a man that was injured, but Edmonton police are still searching for a second vehicle after the two reportedly drove up a busy road exchanging gunfire Friday afternoon.
Police responded to an initial weapons complaint on 97 Street near 125 Avenue, just north of Yellowhead Trail, where it was reported that two vehicles exchanged gunfire.
It’s believed the vehicles then drove up 97 Street shooting at each other before one ended up at the Griesbach Village shopping complex on the northwest corner of 97 Street and 137 Avenue.
Zaki Boulet was working at Wayback Burgers in the shopping complex, when he said the white car came ripping into the parking lot.
“I was literally just on my way to the bathroom. I heard this bang and stopped for a second,” Boulet said.
“Then I went into the bathroom and I saw a tile everywhere and I saw a bullet hole.”
Caden Stolte works at the Kumon Math and Reading Centre of Edmonton location next door to the burger shop and was grading homework when he said the man who got shot came in.
“A guy came running in, yelling, saying, ‘I’ve been shot! I’ve been shot! I call the cops!’ He was in a panic.”
“I could see the guy was shot. He had holes through his clothing.”
Stoltee said the man was agitated and wanted something to stem the bleeding.
“He seemed to be running on adrenaline because he was super panicked, running around,” Stolte said.
A cloth was applied to the man’s wound to stem the bleeding and he went back outside, where emergency crews were arriving.
Meanwhile Boulet said when he left the bathroom and went back out to the restaurant, he saw the victim lying on the ground.
Boulet said it looked like the man had a bullet wound to his chest.
“Cops were here, paramedics showed up,” Boulet said. It’s a pretty wild situation and the car was left there with bullet holes in it,” he said, indicating the white car parked out front.
“I’m just happy I didn’t go to the bathroom about 10 seconds earlier, honestly.”
A White Toyota Camry with Saskatchewan plates and a shattered window was seen surrounded by EPS vehicles and blocked off with police tape.
EPS said the two people from the white car were taken into custody.
One of the occupants, a man in his 30s, was shot during the driving shooting and police said he was taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Northgate Mall was evacuated briefly over reports of a possible active shooter however Edmonton police said that was a false report.
The second vehicle is still outstanding and as of Friday evening, police did not have a description of it.
Officers continue to investigate.