Three employees of an armoured car company are dead and a colleague is in critical condition following an attempted armed robbery at the University of Alberta in Edmonton this morning.
“Tactical were called out, as were canine unit … Homicide has been called out,” said Scott Pattison, an Edmonton police spokesman.
“What I can tell you is that three people are dead.”
All four victims are employees of G4S Security.
"Our hearts go out to our victims' families and to all our employees at the Edmonton branch," Robin Steinberg, a spokesperson for the security company, told CBC News. "It is just devastating.
Steinberg says the employees would have been armed while on the job.
Police say the shootings happened on the north side of HUB Mall, which houses retail shops and student residences. (CBC News)
The shootings happened inside HUB Mall, which houses residences for students.
Student Ravedh Seeberath told CBC News that he heard the shots around 12:30 a.m. MT while studying in the mall.
"As I was walking down, that's when about 30 tactical officers were rushing toward me, passing me with complete firearms … the whole works, and police dogs," he said.
"That's when I went back to my books, grabbed what I could, and told the other ladies in that little study area that we should get out of there."
'Busting down the door'
The bodies were reportedly found by volunteers from Safewalk, an organization that provides escorts to students on campus at night.
They say they investigated after hearing a thud to find a wounded man behind a locked door beside a bank of ATMs in the mall.
They then contacted campus security.
Ian Breitzke, 21, watched from his window as police arrived at the scene.
“They end up busting down the door and ended up pulling out all the bodies that were in there. They pulled out a couple that I could see were dead,” he said.
“After a few moments after that they pulled out the man who was still alive … EMS ended up taking him to hospital.”
Police say they are now searching for suspects in the shooting, but are working with little information.
“Whether it is one suspect, two suspects, numerous … we have no details of that at this time,” said Pattison. “You could call it a manhunt.”
University offers help
A university administration statement released Friday said the school is "saddened about those who lost their lives last night, and we extend our condolences to their loved ones.
"The safety and security of our students and staff is our first priority, and our campus protective services are working closely with Edmonton police," the statement said. "Counsellors are available to students living in the residential portion of HUB. If there are students directly affected by this tragic incident who feel they cannot take exams scheduled for Friday, they can defer those exams per our existing procedures."
The statement said residents in the HUB Mall will be able to leave the building but will not be allowed to return until the mall is reopened.
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