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Police say the shootings happened on the north side of HUB Mall, which houses retail shops and student residences. (CBC News) Edmonton police were hunting for one or more suspects after an armoured-car robbery this morning at the University of Alberta campus in which three security guards were killed.
Three employees of G4S Security died at the scene, and another was sent to hospital in critical condition after the shooting at the HUB Mall on the campus.
“Whether it is one suspect, two suspects, numerous … we have no details of that at this time,” said Scott Pattison, an Edmonton police spokesman.
“You could call it a manhunt.”
Police located a G4S armoured van, abandoned and empty, about 70 blocks south of the university, and less than 200 metres away from the company’s Edmonton property. It wasn't immediately clear whether it was related to the shooting, but they were treating it as a crime scene.
The shooting took place after midnight MT inside HUB Mall, which contains retail stores and restaurants on the first floor and several storeys of student residences. The north end of the mall, where the shooting took place, contains at least four automated teller machines in a small area.
“Tactical were called out, as were canine unit … Homicide has been called out,” said Pattison.
“What I can tell you is that three people are dead.”
Robin Steinberg, a spokesperson for the security company, told CBC News: "Our hearts go out to our victims' families and to all our employees at the Edmonton branch. It is just devastating .… This is the most difficult thing our company has ever had to deal with."
Steinberg said the employees would have been armed while on the job.
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.”
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.
Other parts of the campus were operating normally.
[View the story "Three dead in shooting at University of Alberta" on Storify]
