The mall went into lockdown, as the EPS Tactical Unit cleared the facility.<\/p>\n
The lockdown was lifted just before 10 p.m.<\/p>\n
Police say they believe this was a targeted incident and those involved are known to each other.<\/p>\n
Social media posts early on in the lockdown indicated shoppers were hiding in stores.<\/p>\n Some shoppers reported being told to move to back store rooms after initially waiting inside locked stores.<\/p>\n In an earlier police release, people were being asked to steer clear of the mall.<\/p>\n The incident also forced the closure of the Edmonton Transit centre outside the mall.<\/p>\n Pick-up and drop-off was rerouted away from the mall, before the centre reopened just before 10 p.m.<\/p>\n The mall, a major tourist attraction and one of the largest malls in North America, says on its website it that conducts lockdown drills four times a year to prepare for emergencies.<\/p>\n It tightened security in 2015 after it was named a potential target in a video attributed to al-Qaida-linked terrorist group al-Shabab.<\/p>\n In 1996, the mall was the scene of a shooting on Boxing Day that took the life of a reported gang member.<\/p>\n The mall has more than 800 stores, attractions and restaurants and sees about 30 million visitors a year.<\/p>\n \u2014 with files from Canadian Press<\/p>\n More to come\u2026<\/p>\n![\"WEM\"](\"https:\/\/smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital\/edmontonjournal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/thumbnail_image3.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=288&sig=F7QoQtoQmGJzV1ZE8X__XA\" "\\"\\"")
Shoppers exit West Edmonton Mall after a lockdown that lasted nearly two hours after a shooting in the evening of Monday, Aug. 21, 2023. Photo by David Bloom<\/span> jpg<\/span> <\/p>\nArticle content<\/h2>\n