The victim of a shooting at GPRC’s Fairview campus was a student of the college. The 18 year old man was shot Sunday night in a parking lot by three men in a four-foor, greyish-green vehicle. He was taken to hospital in Edmonton stable but in critical condition. He is reportedly improving.
RCMP say it’s unclear whether he was the intended target, as there were two other people with him, but note that they weren’t known to police. They also didn’t recognize their attackers. GPRC president and CEO Don Gnatiuk admits it’s concerning to be connected to a crime like this.
“When we bring students on, we expect them to be coming into a safe environment and anything that threatens that, in terms of the safety of our students and risk to our reputation, absolutely that’s critical to us so it’s not something that we take lightly.”
Extra security officers have been stationed around the campus and counselling services will be available for staff and students as long as they need it. Although the victim was a student, it’s not believed the school is in danger. Despite that, Gnatiuk says it’s still scary for everyone.
“It’s close and it’s scaring us all, for something like that to happen on campus, there’s no question. As of today we’re trying to get our campus back up to as normal operations as possible. Right now, our campuses are a safe place to go to school and we’re happy to be able to say that.”
Police are still on the hunt for the three men and the vehicle involved in the shooting. A car matching the description was spotted by officers in Grande Prairie later Sunday night, leading them on a chase through town. There have been conflicting reports on its make, so mounties have yet to confirm whether it matches. Inspector Jack Poitras says the investigation is still in the early stages.