Three stabbings in just four days have left two men dead and another recovering in hospital; the violence has Mayor Stephan Mandel outraged, calling for a city-wide ban on the sale of large knives.
The bold statement comes after a series of vicious stabbings across the city.
One man was rushed to hospital early Sunday morning after he walked into a Mac's convenience store near 118th Avenue and 34th Street looking for help after he'd been stabbed. While he is expected to recover, two other victims weren't so lucky.
On Thursday a 24-year-old Landis Tyson Stick was found murdered in front of an apartment building near 107th Avenue and 104th Street. Autopsy results indicate Stick was stabbed to death.
Early Saturday morning 21-year-old Brendan Malcolm McNaughton was killed after he was attacked by a group of men outside the Nu Wave Pub near 182nd Street and 89th Avenue. Emergency crews arrived a minute after the call, but the man had already died.
The spree of knife violence has Mayor Mandel outraged, looking into the possibility of banning the sale of large knives in the city.
"I'm going to ask our law department if we can ban knives in the City of Edmonton, ban the kind of selling of those knives," he said Sunday.
Mandel says he plans to meet with both Police Chief Mike Boyd and city councillors this week to put forth a bylaw to ban the selling of what he calls the new weapon of choice.
"This is getting right out of hand and if people think they're going to be able to do this in our city they're wrong and the time has come to stop it right it its tracks," said Mandel.
It's unclear whether the city can actually ban the sale of knives, but one long-time knife collector says the ban wouldn't decrease knife violence.
"They (knives) don't stab people, they don't cut people, it's the person holding them that does that kind of stuff," said Keith Montgomery.
However, one woman who lives near the city's latest murder scene supports the ban.
"I think it's a good idea," said Tiffany Draves.
With files from Scott Roberts
