Neighbour recalls night two Edmonton police officers were killed outside her door
A woman who lives across from the apartment where a 16-year-old shot and killed two Edmonton police constables has multiple bullet holes in her door, with a couple piercing her doorframe.
On Monday, Darlene Blyan showed CTV News Edmonton at least six bullet holes in her doorway, remnants from last Thursday's shooting where Constables Brett Ryan and Travis Jordan were killed.
She recalled waking up after midnight to loud noises and the feeling her apartment was shaking.
"I thought my pictures were coming off my walls," Blyan described. "Then I thought someone was kicking my door.
"Then I heard, ‘oh, oh my god, oh my god, about four or five times,’" she added.
The Edmonton Police Service says Ryan and Jordan were dispatched after reports of a domestic dispute. There was no indication a weapon was inside the apartment they responded to, nor that the situation could become violent.
The pair of officers met the 16-year-old's mother outside the Inglewood complex. When Ryan and Jordan were outside the suite, police say they were "immediately incapacitated."
The pair of Edmonton Police Service officers killed on Thursday, March 16, 2023 (Source: EPS).
After what Blyan later learned was a shooting, police officers knocked on her door and instructed her to stay inside her suite.
Thirty minutes later, investigators informed her she would have to leave her home for the next several days as the area was an active crime scene. She was put up in a hotel and just returned home Sunday afternoon.
Blyan, who has lived in the building for three years, said she knew the mother of the teen shooter, who remains in hospital.
According to police, the mother was shot by her son during a struggle for the firearm he used to shoot the pair of officers.
"We would talk in the laundry room and talked about our life," Blyan said. "We would sit on the steps and have a smoke and just talk about everything.
One bouquet of flowers stands outside the doors of the Inglewood apartment complex where last Thursday two police constables were fatally shot (CTV News Edmonton).
"She was easy to talk to," Blyan added. "She's a nice woman."
Since returning, Blyan told CTV News Edmonton she couldn't stop thinking about how she decided to stay in bed that fateful night.
"Good thing I didn't look through the peephole," she said as she pointed to the bullet hole below it.
A regimental funeral and procession for Ryan and Jordan has been scheduled for Monday, March 27.
With files from CTV News Edmonton's Nahreman Issa
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING NDP motion regarding Palestinian statehood passes after major Liberal alterations
A motion from the federal New Democrats initially calling on Canada to recognize the 'State of Palestine' passed amid widespread acrimony on Monday, after the Liberals drastically altered its wording to see the government simply work towards that aim as part of a two-state solution.
'He didn't want to die': Family of Calgary man killed in standoff speaks out
Family of a Calgary man killed after a 30-hour standoff with police last week are speaking out, sharing details of the tense and heart-wrenching experience.
Toronto family doctor who called patient's body 'perfect' suspended for 3 months: tribunal
A family doctor in Toronto has been suspended for three months after a disciplinary tribunal found that he failed to follow proper protocols while examining a patient's breasts and made inappropriate comments about her body.
Ohio mom who left toddler alone 10 days when she went on vacation pleads guilty to aggravated murder
An Ohio mother whose 16-month-old daughter died after being left home alone in a playpen for 10 days last summer while she went on vacation was sentenced Monday to life in prison with no chance of parole.
Retired teacher pleads guilty to paying for sex with 15-year-old in Collingwood, Ont.
In a Barrie courtroom on Monday, a retired high school teacher from the Niagara Region pleaded guilty to sexual touching and obtaining sexual services from a 15-year-old boy in Collingwood in 2021.
Hertz CEO out following electric car 'horror show'
The company, which announced in January it was selling 20,000 of the electric vehicles in its fleet, or about a third of the EVs it owned, is now replacing the CEO who helped build up that fleet, giving it the company’s fifth boss in just four years.
5 charged in Calgary kidnappings that targeted women
Calgary police have charged five men in a pair of kidnappings last year that targeted innocent victims.
Demand soars for solar eclipse glasses in Canada. Are they worth buying?
The demand for total solar eclipse glasses used to safely view the rare celestial event has been ramping up as sellers, along with astronomy and eye-care experts in Canada, warn that viewing the eclipse with the naked eye is dangerous.
Canadian commander of volunteer fighter group dies in Ukraine
A Canadian-born commander of the so-called Norman Brigade, a volunteer fighting group in Ukraine, has died.