One person was arrested and charged Tuesday morning, after a series of incidents including a stabbing on the South Campus LRT Station platform, and a robbery at an Edmonton store.
“It was definitely a very violent attack,” Acting Staff Sgt. Neil Thompson told CTV News. “From what we can tell, [it was] unprovoked. It’s still under investigation but it appeared to be random and unprovoked.”
Officers were called to the station just before 8 a.m. after an assault with a weapon was reported in the area of 67 Avenue and 115 Street. Police arrived to find a 19-year-old man suffering from stab wounds.
It was reported the man was stabbed by another male on the station platform. The assailant fled the scene on foot.
Paramedics were called who treated and transported the injured man to hospital with serious injuries.
A few minutes later, officers responded to a reported robbery at a business in the area of 57 Avenue and 111 Street.
Police said it’s believed a male suspect went into the business, punched an employee in the face and stole merchandise. He left and demanded a female driver in a vehicle in the parking lot to take him away.
The driver refused, and the man allegedly got into the vehicle on the passenger side and grabbed her. She managed to escape, and the suspect drove the car south on 111 Street.
The employee at the store was treated on scene for minor injuries, and the female driver wasn’t hurt in the ordeal.
Police managed to track the stolen vehicle to a business in the area of 179 Street and 106A Avenue. When officers arrived, the suspect was prevented from driving away. EPS said a “brief altercation took place” as officers tried to arrest him, and the suspect broke free from officers and ran away.
At about 8:30 a.m., the suspect was caught in the area of 181 Street and 107 Avenue, with help from the EPS Canine Unit. More than a dozen officers from the EPS Southwest Division and West Division, in addition to members from the EPS Canine Unit, responded to the incident as it unfolded Tuesday.
Charges are pending against the 24-year-old suspect – Staff Sgt. Thompson said it appeared the man in custody was under the influence at the time.
“The accused is under the influence of drugs, as I said it just appeared to be random,” Thompson said.
Police are still investigating.
“It definitely increases the need to apprehend the subject, clearly he’s on some type of – as you said – rampage,” Thompson said. “What his motivation is we don’t know, but he’s not stopping, so we definitely need to up the ante to try to catch him. In this case the OnStar was very helpful in actually pinpointing the vehicle.”
At last word, the man injured in the stabbing was in stable condition.
