Next week's Edmonton city council meetings cancelled in wake of shooting

Workers cleanup at Edmonton City Hall after shots were fired and a Molotov cocktail caused a small fire on Jan. 23, 2024. (Credit: City of Edmonton)

Council meetings at Edmonton City Hall scheduled for next week have been cancelled while cleanup from a brazen attack continues, the city has confirmed.

On Tuesday, a man armed with a long gun fired multiple shots inside the building and threw a Molotov cocktail from the second floor, causing a small fire, before he was arrested.

No one was injured.

The building has been closed since the incident while crews work to fix the damage.

City manager Andre Corbould says some of the glass panels and doors that were broken during the rampage have to be special ordered, which will take time due to supply chain issues, but says temporary measures will be put in place..

'This was a very traumatizing experience for employees," Corbould said. "The facilities maintenance folks are being very thoughtful about what they're doing and how they're repairing things. They're taking an approach of being trauma informed so that people are not retriggered or so there's less retriggering."

Corbould says there's no timeline to reopen the building.

"As of next week, we are not going to have any council meetings or committee meetings," he said. "We are going to take some time to focus on the work that needs to be done, and really focus on staff and the psychological safety that's required to make them feel better."

The following meetings scheduled for next week have been cancelled:

• Jan. 29 - City Council Public Hearing;
• Jan. 30 and 31 - City Council; and
• Feb. 2 - Special City Council.

"Council business scheduled to occur during these meetings will be rescheduled as soon as possible. New dates will be announced once confirmed," the city said in a Friday news release.

With files from CTV News Edmonton's Matt Marshall