Employee shot in head at Pizza Hut is recovering after losing left eye, family says

Rich Albert is on the road to recovery.

The 55-year-old Pizza Hut employee was shot in the head March 12 while working at the restaurant on 133 Street and 114 Avenue.

The Edmonton Police Service says a person wearing a hooded sweater walked in around 12:30 a.m. and fired a weapon before fleeing.

Police later said the bullet casing from that shooting matched the gun recovered from the apartment where constables Travis Jordan and Brett Ryan were killed four days later.

The apartment complex and Pizza Hut are near one another.

Albert was rushed to hospital in critical but stable condition after the shooting.

He survived but suffered a traumatic brain injury and lost his left eye, according to his sister Leslie in an online fundraiser created Saturday.

She says the shooting was a “random act of violence.”

“He remains in the hospital where he is showing signs of progress and promise,” Leslie wrote.

“The days, months and possibly years ahead will be trying and difficult for Rich, his wife and his family as he begins the long process of healing and rehabilitation.”

Leslie created the GoFundMe with the hopes of raising $100,000 to help with “medical costs, equipment, medication and rehabilitation” in the aftermath of the shooting.

As of Wednesday afternoon, nearly $25,000 was raised.

“It will be a long road to recovery with many expected and unexpected expenses,” Leslie wrote. “All funds raised will go to Rich’s wife.”

The 16-year-old suspect accused of killing Jordan and Ryan was known to police, though he did not have a criminal record.

Police say one of the previous incidents involving the suspect was categorized as a mental-health complaint, where he was taken to a hospital for assessment.

Investigators are working to determine how the teenager came into possession of the gun.