Cleanup underway at Edmonton City Hall after shooting, Molotov cocktail incident on Tuesday

Edmonton Mayor Amarjeet Sohi says city hall will remain closed Wednesday as cleanup continues after a man police have described as "heavily armed" fired shots and threw a Molotov cocktail in the building on Tuesday.

"There's broken glass and there are some safety hazards and some cleaning up needs to be done," Sohi told CTV News Edmonton on Wednesday morning.

"We want to make sure that when it opens to the public it's a safe place for people to go."

• In Pictures: Destruction, cleanup at Edmonton City Hall

No one was injured when the shooter entered the building.

The Edmonton Police Services says he was detained by an unarmed Commissionaire and arrested by police moments after the shots were fired.

"I think within 30 seconds or so that we were told that the person has been arrested and there was relief," Sohi said.

"These are very, very scary moments."

A burned area in Edmonton's City Hall after a Molotov cocktail was thrown on Jan. 23, 2024. (Jeremy Thompson/CTV News Edmonton)

Sohi was one of several people in a committee meeting in the building when the shots were fired.

He says he and his colleagues are supporting each other through the situation.

"We have a group chat that we've been communicating. We also had an informal meeting where our city administration briefed us on the situation and we will be doing that again today.

"Coming together as a group, we need to continue to support each other and be with each other."

Edmonton Mayor Amarjeet Sohi speaks to CTV News Edmonton on Jan. 24, 2024.

He says support is also being offered to any other city employees who want it through an employee family assistance program.

"Support is available for them. We will continue to stand with them."

Sohi says security protocols at city hall will be examined after the incident, but he vows the building will remain an open and inclusive place for everyone.

He's also asking Edmontonians not to speculate on the motive of the shooter as police investigate.

"This is a very difficult time for all of us as a city, we are grappling with something that we have never imagined would happen."

"Please continue to rely on accurate information and please do not speculate and do not pass judgement on this. Let's let the facts come out."

The identity of the shooter has yet to be released by police, but CTV News Edmonton has learned Bezhani Sarvar, 28, is facing six charges in the case, including arson and firearms charges.

Criminologist Dan Jones says the incident is a good opportunity to re-examine security protocols at city hall.

"This really shakes the fibre of safety and security in our city with something just wicked and potentially catastrophic happening," he told CTV News Edmonton.

"This happened without an injury. Do we wait till someone gets injured before we start changing the security protocols? And I think that's what city hall and city security folks are going to have to weigh."

A former city hall security guard told CTV News Edmonton peace officers are no longer stationed at the building, including council chambers during meetings.

Instead, unarmed guards with no body armour patrol the building.

With files from CTV News Edmonton's Jeremy Thompson