Edmonton police officers responded to multiple violent calls between Saturday and Monday, including weapons complaints, aggravated assaults, a carjacking, shootings, a homicide and a suspicious death.
“Our members were kept extremely busy over the last several days, responding to various life-threatening incidents called into 911 across the city,” said Deputy Chief Darren Derko of the EPS community policing bureau.
“It’s been a traumatic weekend for the victims of these crimes, their families and friends, as well as the responding officers and investigators subsequently involved.”
Derko said the surge of violent events over a short period of time stretches police resources thin.
“Maintaining adequate services and response times becomes very difficult,” he said.
“We’re managing the chaos but we’re not solving the problem right now.”
While some of the calls over the last several days involved individuals who knew each other, some did not.
“It is these random acts of violence that are the most concerning,” Derko said. “There’s acts of violence every day that change people’s lives.”
Derko said the source of the escalating crime and violence is multi-faceted and cannot be solved by one solution alone — even additional police funding.
“If we keep accepting the state that we’re in right now — with the social disorder, the encampments — this can’t be accepted — the open-air drug use — we’re going to see this continue,” he said.
“This isn’t about funding. Honestly, if somebody were to say: ‘Here’s a bunch of money for EPS,’ by the time we hire to get those resources on the street to make an impact, we’re talking about a couple years, maybe more.
“We’ve got to quit making the political statements and start focusing on the safety and protecting our communities.”
He said police have been working with all levels of government on strategies and supports.
“We all want the same thing. Everybody will tell you they want a safe community,” Derko said.
Edmonton police pointed out their data shows that two-thirds of violent offenders reoffend within two years of being released.
Still, finding the best ways to address the complex issue is a tall order.
“Edmonton is not the only major city to be feeling this. So obviously, if somebody came up with a solution, we’d be all over it. The one thing I can say though is we have to start having a unified approach to some of this. There’s not one thing that’s going to solve this problem but we need to get control of it.”
Saturday, July 8
In the early hours of Saturday, police were called to the Belvedere Transit Centre for “a weapons complaint/stabbing,” EPS said.
Officers arrived shortly after 12:20 a.m. and found an injured man in the terminal, near 62 Street and Fort Road.
The victim was taken to hospital and the male suspect was arrested. Charges are pending, police said.
Sunday, July 9
Police received a complaint about weapons at Belvedere LRT Station near 129 Avenue and Fort Road at 9:15 p.m. on Sunday.
Officers found a man dead “with suspicious injuries.”
Edmonton police’s homicide section took over the investigation. A 27-year-old man has since been charged in connection with this death and faces “various charges including second-degree murder.”
Then, at around 10:20 p.m., there was an assault with a weapon call downtown.
Peace officers who witnessed the assault told police that an 89-year-old man, a hobby photographer, was taking some photos near 97 Street and Jasper Avenue when another man “charged the elderly male, shoving him to the ground and seriously injuring him.”
EPS said the suspect “climbed on top” of the elderly man and the peace officers intervened and detained him.
The suspect was arrested by police and charged.
Paramedics treated the 89-year-old man and took him to hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries.
Monday, July 10
Police investigated an aggravated assault reported at 2 a.m. Monday at an ETS bus shelter on Jasper Avenue and 100 Street.
Officers were told that a man and woman were taking drugs when two other men joined them inside the shelter.
Then, witnesses reported seeing one of the men “stagger out of the shelter and fall to the ground with what appeared to be life-threatening stab wounds.”
Paramedics treated him and took him to hospital, where he remains in critical condition.
The incident remains under investigation.
Later, at around 3 a.m. Monday, police in the west end were called to a weapons complaint on Woodbend Wynd, where witnesses reported a shooting.
Officers found a man with a gunshot wound at the scene.
“It was reported to police that the male complainant was sitting in his vehicle in a parking lot, before being joined by a suspect male. They were eventually joined by two additional suspect males. The suspects then attempted to rob the complainant, though he was not carrying any money with him.”
Police said the suspects demanded the keys to his vehicle and drove the man out to the west end.
“The complainant was able to escape the vehicle, at which time one of the suspects shot the male as he attempted to flee the scene,” Edmonton police said.
He sustained a serious, non-life-threatening injury.
The suspects left the area, eventually abandoning the vehicle, which was later found in southeast Edmonton on fire.
The incident remains under investigation.
Around 6 a.m. Monday, an injured male was reported to be outside a northeast home.
Police found a 25-year-old man with serious injuries in the area of 84 Street and 179 Avenue.
He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Homicide detectives have taken over the investigation.