Former commissionaire charged after shots fired, Molotov cocktail thrown in Edmonton City Hall

Bezhani Sarvar, 28, who allegedly fired a long gun and threw a Molotov cocktail inside Edmonton City Hall on Tuesday while wearing a security uniform, is a former commissionaire.

On Wednesday, the Canadian Corps of Commissionaires confirmed Sarvar worked as a commissionaire since 2019 at various locations in Edmonton, but was never assigned to city hall.

"Given the nature of this incident and the ongoing police investigation, we are not able to provide any further comment on this individual," Kristina Dembinski wrote in a news release.

Dembinski did not say if Sarvar's employment ended before or after Tuesday's incident.

In a Wednesday news release, the Edmonton Police Service said the shooter parked his vehicle in the city hall parkade at 10:18 a.m. and entered the building from the parkade.

"Once inside City Hall, he lit several handheld incendiary devices, believed to be Molotov cocktails, that caused one small fire outside an elevator. He then fired several rounds from a long gun into the ceiling, walls and windows," police wrote.

"The male then dropped the firearm on the floor and surrendered to a City Hall security commissionaire, who detained him until police arrived moments later."

The security officer who detained the shooter is an army veteran who has been with the commissionaires since February 2023, Dembinski said.

"We are very proud of him and thank him for taking such bold and brave action to protect the public."

Sarvar is facing six charges, including:

• arson with disregard for human life;
• possession of an incendiary material;
• use of a firearm while committing an offence;
• placing or throwing an explosive substance;
• careless use of a firearm; and
• discharge a firearm while being reckless as to the life or safety of another person.

He is scheduled for a bail hearing at 9 a.m. on Thursday.

Police are also looking into a video they say may be connected to the shooting.

The video is nearly five minutes long.

A man wearing a security jacket talks about his mission and the issues he believes our society is facing.

An alleged video of the Edmonton City Hall shooter has surfaced, where he explains the motivation for his “mission” pic.twitter.com/2s7z9ZOWfl

— YEGWAVE (@yegwave) January 24, 2024

EPS is working with the RCMP Integrated National Security Enforcement Teams (INSET) on the investigation.

"The RCMP’s Integrated National Security Enforcement Team is engaged and actively working with Edmonton Police Service but, as this is an ongoing investigation, we will not be releasing further information at this time," a spokesperson said in a statement to CTV News Edmonton.

At a news conference on Tuesday afternoon, the chief of the Edmonton Police Service, Dale McFee, described the shooter as "heavily armed."

He said it's too early to speculate on the shooter's motive.

He also could not confirm if the shooter was known to police.

City hall remained closed on Wednesday as crews cleaned up broken glass and other debris that resulted from the shooting. 

City manager Andre Corbould confirmed the closure, which also impacts city hall parkade, would likely continue for the rest of the week.

"Over the next few days, crews will address critical safety related repairs to ensure the building can be re-opened as soon as possible," he wrote in a statement to the media.

"Crews will require some time to fully restore and repair all the observed damage from the incident and investigation."

With files from CTV News Edmonton's Jeremy Thompson and Nav Sangha