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Police inspect the scene of a shooting at Great West Chrysler at 178th Street and Stony Plain Road on March 12, 2010, in Edmonton.Photograph by: Greg Southam,
EDMONTON — A police officer who sped to the scene of a west-end shooting Friday morning arrived to find her husband among the dead.
By the time the first officers reached the Great West Chrysler dealership on Stony Plain Road, the gunfire had stopped and two men lay dead. One has been identified as Dave Burns, a disgruntled employee who had recently been suspended from his job. The other was the car dealership's parts manager, Garth Radons, the husband of a police constable.
"Can you imagine it," a police source told The Journal. "Those two leave for work in the morning, and which one of them do you think would be at risk of getting shot -- the parts guy or the cop?"
Another employee was taken to hospital with life-threatening gunshot wounds. He underwent surgery and was in critical condition Friday night, police said.
Sources say Burns had recently been suspended from his job as tower operator -- the man who assigns mechanics to work on customers' cars -- for making inappropriate postings on the Internet about fellow employees. Police sources confirmed that, and said Burns was suspended for making inappropriate jokes and for other behaviour while on the job.
The first call about the shooting came in at 7:45 a.m. and several police cruisers converged on the dealership at 178th Street and Stony Plain Road.
People who knew Burns say he was sometimes volatile. In 1994, he had a number of firearms and many boxes of ammunition stolen from his home. The thieves made off with two shotguns, a semi-automatic rifle, two semi-automatic handguns and 1,300 rounds of ammunition.
"They came in armed with a screwdriver and left armed with firepower," Burns told Global Edmonton at the time.
He said then that it was unlikely he would replace the guns.
Shane McGee, who knew Burns from the 4X4 off-roading community, said he also knew parts manager Garth Radons and the other victim as well.
"Garth was a real nice guy, hilarious. He and I could banter back and forth pretty good, verbally kick each other pretty good and just have a good laugh about it."
Police did not name the shooter or the victims Friday, but several sources identified Burns and Radons. Insp. Denis Jubinville said police could not confirm the gunman killed himself, but said they were not looking for another suspect.
Customer Mike Motowylo had a 7:30 a.m. appointment to drop off his truck at Great West for service.
Twenty minutes later, he called his wife, Sherry, to tell her he had seen a man walk into the dealership with a shotgun, shoot someone and then shoot himself.
"He heard the shot and saw him reload," Sherry Motowylo said. "He was a little shook up."
After the shooting, a number of witnesses remained inside the dealership giving statements to police investigators.
Bart Yachimec, who owns Great West and several other dealerships, would not comment on the circumstances of the shooting.
"The people who were involved were all long-term employees and this is very difficult to understand," he said. "We still have one employee who is in intensive care at this point. He's still with us and that's the best news we can have right now. I just can't imagine losing another person, so I pray he makes it."
He said the tragedy could have a "ripple effect" throughout his dealerships because there are many friends and family among the employees.
"Hopefully we can bond together, grow from this, learn from this, but it won't be easy."
Almost a dozen police cruisers with lights flashing and a forensics van were parked out front of the dealership Friday morning, and bright yellow tape was strung between shiny new trucks. Yet people continued to show up for scheduled maintenance appointments. They were turned away by police, who told them the dealership was closed.
Representatives from victims services were also on hand to provide counselling.
Since the dealership opens at nine, an hour and a half after the shop, most employees arrived after the shooting. As they trickled in, many gathered in a building behind the main complex.
Todd McLeod, who works at the dealership, said few employees would have been around at the time of the shooting, and likely no customers.
"It's just horrible to see this when you come in first thing in the morning," he said.
Few employees would talk on the record, though three separately identified Burns as the shooter and confirmed he was a senior employee in the service department.
One man who works on the dealership floor also confirmed Burns had been suspended, but said he didn't know why. The man said he'd never personally had a problem with Burns, and said he couldn't understand why anyone would do such a thing.
"Why not just kill yourself?" he asked
Police inspect the scene of a shooting at Great West Chrysler at 178th Street and Stony Plain Road on March 12, 2010, in Edmonton.Photograph by: Greg Southam,
EDMONTON — A police officer who sped to the scene of a west-end shooting Friday morning arrived to find her husband among the dead.
By the time the first officers reached the Great West Chrysler dealership on Stony Plain Road, the gunfire had stopped and two men lay dead. One has been identified as Dave Burns, a disgruntled employee who had recently been suspended from his job. The other was the car dealership's parts manager, Garth Radons, the husband of a police constable.
"Can you imagine it," a police source told The Journal. "Those two leave for work in the morning, and which one of them do you think would be at risk of getting shot -- the parts guy or the cop?"
Another employee was taken to hospital with life-threatening gunshot wounds. He underwent surgery and was in critical condition Friday night, police said.
Sources say Burns had recently been suspended from his job as tower operator -- the man who assigns mechanics to work on customers' cars -- for making inappropriate postings on the Internet about fellow employees. Police sources confirmed that, and said Burns was suspended for making inappropriate jokes and for other behaviour while on the job.
The first call about the shooting came in at 7:45 a.m. and several police cruisers converged on the dealership at 178th Street and Stony Plain Road.
People who knew Burns say he was sometimes volatile. In 1994, he had a number of firearms and many boxes of ammunition stolen from his home. The thieves made off with two shotguns, a semi-automatic rifle, two semi-automatic handguns and 1,300 rounds of ammunition.
"They came in armed with a screwdriver and left armed with firepower," Burns told Global Edmonton at the time.
He said then that it was unlikely he would replace the guns.
Shane McGee, who knew Burns from the 4X4 off-roading community, said he also knew parts manager Garth Radons and the other victim as well.
"Garth was a real nice guy, hilarious. He and I could banter back and forth pretty good, verbally kick each other pretty good and just have a good laugh about it."
Police did not name the shooter or the victims Friday, but several sources identified Burns and Radons. Insp. Denis Jubinville said police could not confirm the gunman killed himself, but said they were not looking for another suspect.
Customer Mike Motowylo had a 7:30 a.m. appointment to drop off his truck at Great West for service.
Twenty minutes later, he called his wife, Sherry, to tell her he had seen a man walk into the dealership with a shotgun, shoot someone and then shoot himself.
"He heard the shot and saw him reload," Sherry Motowylo said. "He was a little shook up."
After the shooting, a number of witnesses remained inside the dealership giving statements to police investigators.
Bart Yachimec, who owns Great West and several other dealerships, would not comment on the circumstances of the shooting.
"The people who were involved were all long-term employees and this is very difficult to understand," he said. "We still have one employee who is in intensive care at this point. He's still with us and that's the best news we can have right now. I just can't imagine losing another person, so I pray he makes it."
He said the tragedy could have a "ripple effect" throughout his dealerships because there are many friends and family among the employees.
"Hopefully we can bond together, grow from this, learn from this, but it won't be easy."
Almost a dozen police cruisers with lights flashing and a forensics van were parked out front of the dealership Friday morning, and bright yellow tape was strung between shiny new trucks. Yet people continued to show up for scheduled maintenance appointments. They were turned away by police, who told them the dealership was closed.
Representatives from victims services were also on hand to provide counselling.
Since the dealership opens at nine, an hour and a half after the shop, most employees arrived after the shooting. As they trickled in, many gathered in a building behind the main complex.
Todd McLeod, who works at the dealership, said few employees would have been around at the time of the shooting, and likely no customers.
"It's just horrible to see this when you come in first thing in the morning," he said.
Few employees would talk on the record, though three separately identified Burns as the shooter and confirmed he was a senior employee in the service department.
One man who works on the dealership floor also confirmed Burns had been suspended, but said he didn't know why. The man said he'd never personally had a problem with Burns, and said he couldn't understand why anyone would do such a thing.
"Why not just kill yourself?" he asked
) from the neighbourhood coming home from a party at 2 a.m......we didn't know him, but friends of my son did, same class at school, etc. 
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