A man who lives in the apartment complex where two Edmonton police officers were killed early Thursday says shots rang out seconds after the constables entered the building.
Const. Travis Jordan, 35, and Const. Brett Ryan, 30, were shot Thursday while responding to what police described as a family dispute at an apartment complex in the city’s northwest.
Phillip Dunn lives in the same building where the shootings occurred.
He told CBC News on Friday he let the officers into the building and moments later heard the shooting.
He heard a rapid-fire series of gunshots, he said. The officers had no time to react, he added.
“There was no hesitation,” Dunn said.
Edmonton police are expected to reveal more details on the investigation at a news conference Friday afternoon.
Deputy Chief Devin Laforce and Supt. Shane Perka will speak to reporters at 3 p.m. MT.
Jordan and Ryan — patrol officers with West Division — were called around 12:47 a.m. to the Baywood Park Apartments complex near 114th Avenue and 132nd Street.
The officers entered the building and were shot as they approached the suite, police said.
Investigators believe the officers did not fire any shots.
Colleagues rushed the injured officers to hospital, working to keep them alive. They were declared dead at hospital.
The 16-year-old suspect is also dead. Investigators believe he shot the officers before shooting himself.
A woman, the teen’s mother, was taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries. Sources told CBC News she was shot.
Dunn, who lives on the third floor of the building, said he was in his kitchen before the shooting.
He saw the flash of a light pass across his window. Two officers were standing outside with the woman who lives in the unit directly below his, Dunn said.
Dunn said he went downstairs and opened the door to the officers and the woman he knew to be his neighbour. He said the officers thanked him and told him to return to his apartment.
“I went up the stairs. They turned off onto the second floor behind me, and before I even got back into my unit, I heard the shooting.”
Dunn said he heard five or six shots ring out as officers approached the door.
“They came to the door and you could hear them say, ‘Hello, this is the police. Please let us in.’
“I don’t think he even finished what he was saying. There was no hesitation.”
Edmonton police have confirmed the injured woman is the 16-year-old’s mother.
On Friday morning, police said the woman remains in hospital, but could not confirm her condition.
Dunn said he didn’t know the woman or her son very well but would often pass them in the halls. He said they had lived there for at least 2½ years.
He said residents of the building, which is part of a large brick complex of three-storey walk-ups, have been told to stay in their units as the police investigation continues at the scene.
As of Friday morning, police cars and a forensics truck remained parked near the apartment complex. The scene was taped off and a road leading into the area was also blocked.
Linda Fjeldsted, who lives in the adjacent apartment building, said she was awakened by the early-morning commotion and saw police running in every direction.
“We saw somebody being hauled out [and] somebody in an ambulance. I heard the yelling and the talking and the police telling people to get back [in] their apartments. The police were very, very upset,” she said.
“I felt like I was watching something on TV.”
