'Very reckless': Police investigating 5 shootings over the weekend

The Edmonton Police Service is investigating five shootings that happened between last Friday and Sunday.

Police say only one of the shootings resulted in injury, and the victim is expected to recover.

“I’m not here to scare Edmontonians about, they shouldn’t feel scared to leave their house and walk around. What I really want to be is transparent,” said Staff Sgt. Eric Stewart with the Guns & Gangs Section of the Organized Crime Branch.

"We have gun violence in this city. We have a high number of shooting events that occur in the city and these individuals involved in gun crime aren’t thinking about what’s behind their target when they’re shooting these guns. They’re very careless, they’re very reckless, they have no consideration for the public.”

FIVE SHOOTINGS IN THREE DAYS

Around 11:55 p.m. on Oct. 14, officers responded to a report of a shot fired in the area of 114 Street and 17 Avenue SW.

It was reported to police that a shot was heard and a vehicle was seen leaving the area.

Police found a bullet hole in the exterior of a home, but no injuries were reported.

Around 12:37 a.m. on Oct. 15, EPS received a report of shots fired at a home in the area of 127 Avenue and 119 Street.

Investigators found a vehicle in a nearby alleyway with several bullet holes in its windows.

No injuries were reported.

Around 4 a.m., police were called to hospital for a man who had arrived with a gunshot wound.

Police say the victim reported that he had been surrounded by a group of men who demanded his bicycle in the area of 104 Avenue and 119 Street.

When he refused to hand over his bike, he was shot, EPS said.

He was dropped off at hospital with serious but non-life threatening injuries.

Around 2:45 a.m. on Oct. 16, officers were called to a weapons complaint in a parkade in the area of 102 Avenue and 102 Street.

When police arrived, a 2021 Dodge Durango and the shooter’s vehicle had already left the scene, but multiple bullet casings were found.

Around 9:05 p.m., EPS was called to a weapons complaint at 137 Avenue and 66 Street.

A man was driving eastbound on 137 Avenue when he heard a loud bang. He reportedly pulled over to check his vehicle and found a bullet hole.

He was not injured.

“We have an individual driving in their car who heard a loud bang and noticed there was a bullet hole inside their car. We have no information to suggest these people were targeted, we think it was more of a random or an accidental shooting,” Stewart said.

He added that responding to this many firearm events in a short period of time takes a lot of resources.

“Our frontline members are the first to respond to these, our patrol members, and when they go it takes numerous resources to respond to these,” he said. “An event for you know public safety, victim, getting the victims transported to and secure them to the hospitals, dealing with suspects and trying to deal with witnesses and trying to secure evidence, so then we have detectives that come in and deal with these investigations.”

CONTINUATION OF VIOLENCE

According to Stewart, officers have responded to 127 shootings this year as of Oct. 16, 50 per cent of which resulted in injury.

While the number is high, it’s not significantly higher than what police have dealt with in recent years.

“In 2020, we had 112 shootings at this time, and then last year we had 125, and then currently this year we’re at 127,” he said.

“I wouldn’t say it’s an uptick, I would say it’s a continuance of what we’ve had the last three years.”

Stewart says it’s important for the public to work with police in these cases.

“We want these individuals or people who witness these types of events to come forward to the police. We rely heavily on cooperation from witnesses and even people who are victims in these investigations.”

Anyone with information about any of the shootings is asked to call EPS at 780-423-4567 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.