Police have seen alarming number of targeted shootings in Edmonton

In an update Friday morning into a targeted shooting that happened outside an A&W in southeast Edmonton, police confirmed targeted shootings have become a trend in recent months.

“This is not the first time members of the public, including kids and families have been put at risk like this serious risk,” explained Colin Derksen, acting superintendent of the EPS Criminal Investigations Division.

Derksen went on to explain that in March of 2022, there was a targeted shooting that endangered a family at a restaurant full of people.

On June 24, 2023, another targeted shooting occurred. Police say in this incident, a man and his family, including a child in a stroller, as well as additional families in their homes were in danger.

On Oct. 19, in another targeted shooting incident, EPS officers as well as families in their homes were endangered in a southeast Edmonton driveby shooting.

Police add that as of Nov. 11, 2023, officers have responded to 196 shootings across the city, which is a 46 per cent increase compared to this time in 2022.

“Stray bullets can be stray bullets,” said Dan Jones a former Edmonton police inspector, who is now the Chair of Justice Studies at Norquest.

“There is definitely a risk to the public and this is where they [police] really need to start focusing … there’s got to be a focused intervention and interdiction on these individuals who are being violent.

Jones went on to say that those who are doing the shootings are “willing to do anything for the alleged business that they’re in. If they’re willing to kill kids, then they’re willing to do anything, and these become extremely hard cases because you look at who wants to give out information on someone that’s willing to kill a kid.”

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Derksen went on to add that in October alone, seven of 13 shootings that were reported resulted in injuries, also noting that 11 of those had the potential for an innocent bystander to be harmed.

“Thankfully, I can say that still most of the shootings are believed to be targeted, which brings a small consolation but it does make a difference,” said Derksen.

“These reckless actions show all too clearly that the landscape has changed out there. This really bugs me that there’s no longer any respect for children, families, innocent citizens by organized crime members and gangsters that use violence to further their own tracks.”