A 34-year-old man is in the hospital in critical condition and two men are in custody after a violent assault in west Edmonton Saturday afternoon, an EPS spokesperson said.

Officers responded to several calls about a disturbance inside a suite of a building in the area of 173 Street and 69 Avenue at approximately 2 p.m.

Upon arrival, police found two men covered in blood leaving a condo building elevator.

“It was a very violent scene. We are really grateful to the residents in the building who contacted police so quickly and spontaneously when that happened,” EPS spokesperson Scott Pattison said. “It was a bang-bang situation where police arrived, walked through the door, and of course, the two accused where coming out of the elevator at the same time.”

 

Inside the suite on the 17th floor, police found the victim from multiple stab and blunt force trauma wounds.

EMS treated and transported him to the hospital where he remains in critical condition after undergoing surgery Saturday afternoon.

EPS believe the assault is drug-related.

There were other people in the suite at the time of the assault.

“We believe there were some individuals that the two accused forcibly took with them to that suite,” Pattison said. “They were face down and zip tied. Some of them were assaulted, others weren’t. Most but not all were known to police.”

38-year-old Jason Hope and 36-year-old Trevor Auger were taken into custody and are facing a total of 65 charges, including attempted murder, aggravated assault, and multiple counts of weapon-related charges.