Police Link Teenage Shooter of 2 Edmonton Police Constables to Unsolved Restaurant Shooting 4 Days Prior

Edmonton Police Const. Travis Jordan (L), and Const. Brett Ryan are seen in a composite image made from two undated handout photos. (Edmonton Police Service)

Police have evidence the 16-year-old who shot and killed two young Edmonton police officers used the same gun that was used to shoot a Pizza Hut employee four days prior.

The bullet casing recovered from a shooting at an Edmonton Pizza Hut has been matched to the firearm recovered from the apartment where Constables Brett Ryan and Travis Jordan were killed by a teenager while on duty March 16.

Ryan, age 30, and Jordan, age 35, were killed by a 16-year-old armed with a gun as they responded to a routine call for a domestic disturbance. The officers were shot as they arrived at the apartment, and did not have a chance to discharge their firearms before they were fatally shot, according to police.

The Edmonton Police Service (EPS), in a March 23 news release, said an autopsy had been completed on the teenager. The medical examiner confirmed that the teenager was killed by a single, self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.

Ballistics analysis of the firearm used in the shooting has linked the gun to another unsolved crime.

On March 12, at roughly 12:25 a.m., according to an earlier police news release, a single male suspect armed with a gun entered a Pizza Hut in the Westmount area, near 133 Street and 114 Avenue, and shot a 55-year-old male employee.

The suspect fled, and the victim was transported to a hospital with serious, life-threatening injuries. Police said the victim remains in hospital in critical but stable condition.

“Investigators believe the suspect in the Mar. 12 shooting to be the same 16-year-old male responsible for the deaths of the two EPS members, although this has yet to be confirmed. Detectives are also working to trace the origins of the firearm and how it came to be in the youth’s possession,” said the EPS news release.

After shooting the police at his residence, the teenager shot his 55-year-old mother several times. Police said she was trying to get control of the gun from her son.

The teenager then shot and killed himself. His father, 73, was in a different room at the time and not injured. The youth’s mother is still in hospital, in serious but stable condition. Police indicated the mother is unable to speak and can only communicate by writing.

The family of Constable Brett Ryan look over flowers laid at a vigil for Ryan and fellow Constable Travis Jordan who were shot and killed while on duty, in Edmonton on March 17, 2023. (Jason Franson/The Canadian Press)

At a news conference on March 23 at police headquarters, EPS Deputy Chief Devin Laforce said, “There are still many outstanding questions about what took place last Thursday.”

Laforce said EPS is not releasing the name of the shooter or his mother at this time, due to other ongoing investigations into the origin of the firearms, and the safety and privacy of the families affected.

“The firearm and how the youth got the firearm is of paramount importance. How did a 16-year-old obtain this gun? Working backwards, whoever he got that gun from probably faces some criminal jeopardy and we’re working backwards to try and figure out what that looks like,” said the deputy chief.

Police indicated they do not think the youth’s parents, police dispatch, or the constables had any knowledge there was a firearm in the home.

Police Superintendent Shane Perka said that the youth was apprehended under the Mental Health Act in November 2022 and taken to hospital.

“I can’t speak any further as to the outcome of that assessment,” Perka said. “That would be more on the medical side of things and we don’t have access to that information at this point, but it’s certainly things that in the coming days and weeks we will be following up on,” said Perka.

A regimental funeral will be held for Jordan and Ryan on March 27 at Rogers Place in Edmonton.