Edmonton shuts down building where security guard was shot, citing ‘serious safety concerns’

December 23, 2024 Canuck

Two days before Christmas, people hauled their belongings out the doors of a central Edmonton apartment building, piling up suitcases and laundry baskets full of clothes and shoes on the slushy sidewalk.

Building residents say they got the news Friday that they would have to leave — exactly two weeks after 20-year-old Harshandeep Singh was shot and killed while working as a security guard in the apartment building at 10603 107th Avenue.

Citing “serious safety concerns,” the City of Edmonton shut the building down on Monday through an emergency order. It forces more than 60 people living in the building, including about 25 children, to relocate.

“Given the timing, this is not a decision that was taken lightly,” a city statement says.

Multiple residents said they were given 45 minutes to pack up what they could while two Edmonton transit buses waited along the curb for people to load their things on board.

Janet Heathen and her mom Danette Firingstoney were emotional as they packed up a taxi taking them to a hotel.

“I don’t feel safe now, because where are we going to go after the hotel?” Heathen said.

“We have no more home. We have nothing.”

In a video statement, City of Edmonton community standards branch manager David Jones said safety issues in the building have escalated after two recent shootings. He said living conditions have also worsened over the past month.

“The building poses an imminent risk to residents, those visiting the building and the public in the immediate area,” he said.

Since the Dec. 6 shooting that killed Singh, Jones said the city has received “concerning information” indicating safety and security have not improved.

Further details weren’t provided about what that information is. Two people have been charged with first-degree murder in the security guard’s death.

A woman with a bright pink mohawk tucks her chin to see a kitten inside her jacket. — Karisa Halkett says she’s lived in an apartment at 106th Street and 107th Avenue for about a year. She’s not sure where she’ll go now that the building is being shut down. (Madeline Smith/CBC)

Karisa Halkett said she’s lived in the building for nearly a year. On Monday, she was outside with her kitten, Scratch, nestled into her jacket.

“My place was always a safe spot for me, where I could lay my head. But after [the shooting], I started, I don’t know, having second thoughts,” she said.

City officials say they’re moving residents into temporary housing and working with partner agencies to find them new, permanent homes.

A Canadian Red Cross spokesperson said in a statement Monday that they are assisting two households from the building with accommodation and food. Five households received relocation help from Homeward Trust housing workers throughout December, according to a spokesperson for the organization.

Both agencies are continuing to work with the city to address displaced residents’ needs.

City carries out emergency order

The city is shutting down the apartment building under a section of the Municipal Government Act that authorizes, in an emergency, “whatever actions or measures are necessary to eliminate the emergency.”

While the city is carrying out the emergency order, the decision comes from a team that includes Edmonton Fire Rescue Services, the Edmonton Police Service, Alberta Health Services, and provincial and city officials.

The city says it has had an open investigation on the property.

“Significant efforts have been made to incentivize and compel building management to address concerns and incremental progress was being made,” the statement says.

A pile of belongings is on the sidewalk outdoors, with snow on the ground and a man standing among the stuff wearing a hoodie. — Former residents of an apartment building at the corner of 106th Street and 107th Avenue wait to load their belongings into cabs after city officials arrived to shut down the building on Dec. 23, 2024. (Madeline Smith/CBC)

Despite 60 inspections at the property over the last five years, according to the city, “25 citations have been issued in relation to the property and numerous serious issues remain unresolved.”

Ongoing issues include neglect of maintenance and active pest infestations.

The building is the subject of nine publicly listed Alberta Health Services orders that date back to April 2023.

Three separate units were ordered vacated this past March, with public health inspectors citing issues like refrigerators that weren’t in working order, a hole in a bathtub repaired with putty and a missing lock and doorknob on the front door of one unit.

In one case, on March 11, inspectors found the unit’s heating system didn’t work, and the tenant reported it hadn’t been operational since January.

Other work orders describe further maintenance problems and cockroach infestations throughout the building.

Jessica Mandrusiak said she moved into the building in April, and she’s been dealing with issues from cockroaches to broken heating.

“There’s definitely been some times where we’ve felt unsafe,” she said. “I was actually the one that let the guard in when that stuff happened that night.”

The move is abrupt, she said, but, “we’ve been wanting to get out for a while so it’s kind of a blessing in disguise, I guess.”

A man wearing a bright yellow jacket and a hat stands with a black pit bull outside on the sidewalk in winter. — Kolten Comeau and his dog, Chaos, wait outside as residents gather their belongings to leave an apartment building being closed by the city on Dec. 23, 2024. (Madeline Smith/CBC)

Kolten Comeau said was only in the building for about a month, while his mother has lived there longer.

But many of the residents are close, and he hopes there’s a way to stay in touch.

“It’s a shame, actually, that everyone has to leave in the same day.”

The building will be boarded up, according to city officials. The closure applies only to the residential portion of the building, and not the businesses on the ground floor.

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