EDMONTON RAMPAGE
Stunned victims thankful to be alive
A 30-year-old mom heading to meet her boyfriend. A 22-year-old enjoying a weekend road trip to connect with loved ones and catch an Eskimos game. A young woman working for a heavy equipment company.
The bystanders police say were intentionally struck by a U-Haul truck in the city’s downtown Saturday night included two men and two women. At least one remained barely conscious in hospital Monday, with significant injuries.
Edmonton-area mother Kim O’Hara had suffered a brain bleed, a broken leg and was covered in scrapes, her sister Jody Percheson said Monday, though she is expected to recover from her injuries.
“I was in shock. I didn’t think that this was really happening,” Percheson said. “When I did see her, I felt just sick to my stomach that this happened.”
On Monday, police charged Abdulahi Hasan Sharif, 30, in connection with a Saturday night rampage that injured O’Hara and three other pedestrians, as well as police Const. Mike Chernyk. A vehicle struck Chernyk while he worked at a traffic checkpoint outside Commonwealth Stadium. The vehicle’s driver then stabbed him and fled.
Police later pursued a white UHaul truck through downtown Edmonton, where it mowed down four pedestrians, before police caused it to crash on its side and took the truck’s driver into custody.
O’Hara works in human resources for Mammoet, a heavy transport and heavy lift company.
Percheson said her sister is a wonderful, adventurous person, and a dedicated mom with a great sense of humour.
On Saturday, she was on Jasper Avenue to meet her boyfriend at the Central Social Hall bar at 109 Street and Jasper Avenue. She was hit while crossing the street, Percheson said.
“It’s horrific. I feel angry. I feel sad. You would never think that this would happen to somebody,” she said.
O’Hara’s Mammoet co-worker, Jordan Stewardson, was also injured by the truck. She has been released from hospital, her mother said.
Paul Biegel, 22, of Dawson Creek, B.C., feels fortunate to be alive after the truck plowed into him in an alley behind The Pint pub on 109 Street.
Biegel’s father, Jeff, said his son left the hospital on crutches the day after the crash with a torn knee ligament and bumps and bruises.
“He was very lucky. One foot the other way, and he said he came very close to getting crushed in between the truck and the cement barrier,” Jeff Biegel said.
Originally from the Fairview area in northwest Alberta, Paul Biegel was in Edmonton to see an Eskimos football game with his mom and visit his girlfriend. After the game, he went downtown with a friend for drinks.
Jeff Biegel said the truck’s bumper struck his son, who then rolled over the truck’s hood.
He woke up on the ground next to a cement barrier and a severed side mirror.
“I was absolutely shocked. As a parent, to have something like that happen to your child is extremely emotional,” he said.
It was a stressful weekend for the Biegel family.
Jeff Biegel’s brother, Brent, escaped unharmed from the outdoor country music concert in Las Vegas where a gunman killed scores of concertgoers.
“Three terrorist events in the last 48 hours, and my family’s been in two of the three, which is kind of scary,” Jeff Biegel said, also referencing an attack in Paris where two people were fatally stabbed.
Jack Zubick was the fourth injured pedestrian, according to court records.
Sharif was charged with five counts of attempted murder and four counts of dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing bodily harm while trying to evade police.
He also was charged with one count each of dangerous operation of a motor vehicle and possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose, according a provincial court document.
Police released Sharif’s photo Monday, which RCMP Supt. Stacey Talbot said showed injuries he received in two crashes.
The count of terrorism that Edmonton police Chief Rod Knecht said on Sunday was among those Sharif was arrested under is not listed on the court document. RCMP said Monday police are still gathering information.
The RCMP’s Integrated National Security Enforcement Teams (INSET) is now leading the investigation.
“The complexities of a terrorism investigation are vast,” Talbot said Monday.
“As the investigation unfolds and further information is garnered, and if additional charges are supported, they will be pursued at that time.”
Police said Sunday they found an ISIL flag in Sharif ’s vehicle.
Sharif was scheduled to appear in provincial court Tuesday for a bail hearing. He was being held at the Edmonton Remand Centre and court documents say a Somali interpreter had been requested for the hearing.
With RCMP taking the lead on the investigation and a case now before the courts, Edmonton police said Monday they will not hold further news conferences on the weekend attacks. But they continued to defend their decision to pursue the U-Haul after it fled from police at a checkpoint late Saturday.
Edmonton police Insp. Carlos Cardoso said two marked police vehicles and four tactical vehicles were involved in the chase.
“If we hadn’t pursued this vehicle, in light of the use of the car earlier to run over a police officer, and the history of large vehicle attacks in Germany, Spain, and other European countries, the outcome would have been much worse,” he said.