Two arrested after string of Saturday night shootings at Edmonton vehicles

EDMONTON – Police in Edmonton say a man and a woman have been arrested following a chase that started with seemingly random shootings at vehicles that left several motorists injured.

About 9 p.m. Saturday, police say officers responded to a complaint that a male driver who was stopped at an intersection in the city’s west end had been shot at by a suspect in a grey vehicle.

Officers observed bullet holes in the passenger door of his vehicle but he was not injured.

Police say three other vehicles were shot at over the next half hour by someone in a vehicle matching the same description as the first. Three people were injured, two of them seriously when they were struck by bullets.

More than an hour later, officers spotted the suspect vehicle on the city’s south side, and they say that even though it sped off, police kept up the chase through nearby communities of Beaumont and Devon due to “dangerous driving patterns and evidence of a firearm in the vehicle.”

Police eventually caught up with a grey Audi A4 and arrested a 31-year-old male driver and a 28-year-old female passenger, who were taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

“Our investigation does not reveal any connection between the suspects or any of the victims who were simply travelling through the city and targeted in these random acts of violence,” Staff Sgt. Shelley Fisher with the Edmonton Police’s Investigative Response Team said in a news release Sunday.

“This is incredibly concerning.”

A firearm was seized and police said they are working to determine if the vehicle was stolen.

All of the injured people are expected to recover, police said.

They said the man and woman who were arrested are collectively facing 37 charges, including multiple counts of aggravated assault and firearm-related offences. The driver is also facing additional driving offences.

Police are asking anyone with dashcam video of the incidents to contact them. They’re also thanking RCMP for their help.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 16, 2023.