'It's scary': Retired EPS officer shocked by shooting spree, mayor asks governments for help

A man and woman accused of driving around and shooting at people in Edmonton over the weekend – a crime one retired officer believes is unprecedented in his 25 years on city streets – were publicly named Monday by police.

Tariq Sayed Mohammed Aman, 31, and Neanna Wuttunee, 28, are jointly facing 37 charges after at least five people were shot at on Saturday night.

The spree started in west Edmonton, continued on Whyte Avenue and ended with their arrests in Devon, a town just southwest of the city.

Two people driving down Whyte were hit by the bullets and another woman was injured when the shots struck the side of her vehicle near 142 Street and 89A Avenue.

Two other men were shot at but not injured, police said, adding the human targets appeared to be selected at random.

"To me, that is one of the most insane things: somebody just driving around randomly doing drive-by-shootings. I don't think I've ever heard about that in Edmonton before," Dan Jones told CTV News Edmonton.

He served with the Edmonton Police Service for 25 years and is now a criminologist at Norquest College.

The first shooting, around 9 p.m. at 95 Avenue and 149 Street, was caught on the security video footage of a liquor store and obtained by CTV News Edmonton. A loud bang is heard before a grey car speeds away.

The crime was repeated three more times before police caught up to the alleged shooters.

"It’s scary is what it is." Jones said of the episode, which lasted more than three hours.

Police determined the suspect vehicle was an Audi A4, scrambled officers from across the city and deployed "specialized units" to end the chase after 11 p.m. near Highway 60 and the Devon General Hospital.

Both suspects suffered serious injuries but were said to be recovering in hospital. A gun was found in the car, police said, and officers were working to determine its origin and whether or not the car was stolen.

Jones applauded the work of police to end the incident without anyone being killed.

"If you’ve got somebody here randomly shooting, you cannot pull back and wait for them…because it’s just, they are literally randomly shooting people and creating, potentially, murders," he said.

'THERE'S NO SUPPORT SYSTEM': SOHI

Edmonton's mayor echoed Jones' praise of police but criticized both the federal and provincial governments.

"I want to commend EPS for acting promptly and arresting those two individuals," Amarjeet Sohi said.

He was asked on CTV Morning Live about a number of violent incidents in the city lately and whether or not Edmonton is a safe place to live.

For the most part it is, Sohi said, adding that city councillors know public safety is a concern and that's why they've recently increased the police budget, doubled the amount of peace officers and hired more social workers to help them.

He again called on the federal government to make changes to the bail system to keep people previously convicted of violent crimes locked up.

Sohi also believes Alberta's UCP government needs to help by providing more housing, mental health support and addiction treatment spaces.

"We are seeing some improvement but not seeing significant improvement in the safety that we need to see. That’s where the federal government and provincial governments come in," Sohi said.

"We need to put a lot of resources to prevent crime from happening in the first place, so people do not fall into hard times. Once they fall into hard times, there's no support system to actually pull them out."

The federal government introduced bail reform legislation in May and is hoping to pass it in September.

The provincial government recently appointed a task force to combat violence in downtown Edmonton, dispatched sheriffs to help police and is in the process of opening more treatment spaces across Alberta.

Aman and Wuttunee are facing six counts of use of a firearm while committing an offence, four counts of recklessly discharging a firearm, three counts of assault with a weapon and two counts of aggravated assault.

Both are scheduled to appear in an Edmonton courtroom on Monday at 9 a.m.

According to justice officials, Aman has an "extensive history" of charges dating back to 2009, but Wuttunee has no criminal history on record.

Aman is also facing charges of operation of a vehicle while prohibited, dangerous operation of a motor vehicle and flight from a peace officer.

Police are urging anyone with video of the shootings to contact them at 780-423-4567 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS).

With files from CTV News Edmonton's Jeremy Thompson and Craig Ellingson