Spike in Edmonton gun violence a concern, but police say shootings are 'isolated'

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A hailstorm of bullets outside a north-side lounge, a fatal police shooting and targeted gunfire in a residential area covered a deadly 48 hours in Edmonton last weekend.

The city has seen nine confirmed homicides so far this year, including two police shootings that left three people dead. Postmedia includes police shootings causing death in its homicide count, while the Edmonton Police Service does not.

March has added four names to the 2022 homicide count so far, with new victims from a weekend spike in gun violence.

At a Thursday police commission meeting, EPS Chief Dale McFee acknowledged a recent “uptick” in gun violence. He said there have been 27 shootings so far this year that police have looked into, or are still in the process of investigating.

“This isn’t just a trend for Edmonton, but this is a serious trend for us that we don’t like the way it’s going,” he said.

Deputy Chief Kevin Brezinski added that police don’t believe there’s a link between the recent mass shooting outside the Ertale Lounge and the fatal shooting of notorious inner-city landlord Abdullah Shah outside his home.

“We do have some gang violence taking place in the city, but it’s not necessarily one group against the other. It’s just isolated events,” he said.

“Certainly, we’re going to be monitoring, we’re going to be trying to suppress some of this activity on the streets as we go forward.”

It’s not fireworks, ‘it’s gunshots’

At the same meeting of the police oversight board, several residents of the Alberta Avenue neighbourhood said they’ve become exhausted by crime and violence on their streets.

Christy Morin, the executive director of non-profit Arts on the Ave, said she loves Eastwood, her home of nearly 30 years. But while neighbours and businesses have invested in the neighbourhood, Morin said progress on safety has recently stopped.

“The inequity of what’s happening in these core communities is extreme,” she said, describing how a volunteer preparing for the Deep Freeze Festival in Borden Park was frightened away by two men openly carrying guns.

“The tolerance for guns in a park is unbelievable,” she said.

“When it comes to guns, there’s no question about it — we have families that are thinking that it’s fireworks all the time and it’s gunshots. This is stuff we’re experiencing daily.”

Morin said Sunday’s shooting, in an affluent south-side suburb, seems to make everyone take notice, while Alberta Avenue needs that same acknowledgment. She said they need another police beat team along with increased social supports for people on the streets dealing with mental health and addictions issues.

Not just an Edmonton situation

Doug King, a justice studies professor at Calgary’s Mount Royal University, said plenty of factors could contribute to Edmonton’s recent jump in shootings. He said in the U.S., violent crime has seen an upswing as pandemic restrictions have lifted.

“It’s not an Edmonton situation, it’s not an Alberta situation — it may be a North American situation that’s happening.”

King also said sometimes violence that erupts in Edmonton or Calgary turns out to be linked to gang conflict playing out in B.C.’s Lower Mainland.

But he added COVID-19 continues to play a role too. Shootings and homicides have been especially visible over the past two years, with rates of most other types of crime — except hate crimes and domestic violence — seeing a decrease.

“We do know that over the course of the pandemic, gun-related violence has actually increased, particularly in relationship to homicide,” King said.

Edmonton police have raised concerns about rising gun violence and seizures of more illegal guns over the past year.

masmith@postmedia.com

Twitter: @meksmith