The door and frame to Darlene Blyan’s apartment are riddled with at least six bullet holes.
Blyan is a resident of Baywood Park and lives in a unit across the hall from where a 16-year-old boy shot and killed Edmonton police constables Brett Ryan and Travis Jordan and injured his mother before turning the gun on himself in the early morning hours last Thursday.
She said she woke up around 12:45 a.m. after hearing banging and, at first, she thought her framed photos were falling off her walls.
“I sleep right around the corner and then after that, (I thought) what’s going on, is someone kicking my door in?” she said.
Following the noises, she heard a male’s voice saying, “Oh God” about four or five times. Then there was silence before police arrived on scene at the apartment complex in the Inglewood neighbourhood.
“There were so many people running around,” Blyan said.
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Police said Friday the mother, who remains unresponsive in hospital, called officers for help with her unruly son. Ryan and Jordan had no idea there was a weapon in the apartment, nor any indication the call could turn violent.
The boy’s 73-year-old father also lived in the suite but, at this stage of the investigation, police said it is not believed either adult knew the boy had a gun.
When Ryan and Jordan arrived at the suite, they were shot multiple times by the 16-year-old and were “immediately incapacitated.” Neither had a chance to fire a shot.
The boy and his mother then struggled over the gun, during which the 55-year-old woman was shot, police said. The youth then turned the gun on himself. An autopsy on the boy is scheduled for Wednesday.
Police said the father, who is cooperating with police, may have been in another room when the shootings occurred.
Blyan said she had to leave her apartment and stay at a hotel, only returning to her home on Sunday. She said she had to walk past the scene and saw multiple bullet casings and blood on the carpet outside the units across from hers and down the stairs.
On Monday, the carpet on the stairs leading up to Blyan’s unit and on the landing outside was ripped up, exposing plywood underneath.
A small bouquet of flowers with a blue ribbon tied around them was left outside the front door of the building.
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The window of a back door that was previously shattered had been replaced, with the glass still littering the stoop. All of the caution tape that had surrounded the building had been taken down, removing any other signs of police presence at the apartment.
Blyan said she moved into the apartment building about four years ago, a week before the boy and his mother. She said the mother was “very nice” and the two spoke from time to time, but the boy was quiet.
“It’s like I’m invisible,” she said, describing the teen as tall with brown hair.
She believes officers had been called to the unit before.
Police said the 16-year-old was known to them but had no criminal record. One of the incidents in which police dealt with the youth was categorized as a mental health complaint but no further details have been provided.
Also on Monday, Edmonton police announced the regimental funeral and celebration of life for Jordan and Ryan will take place next Monday at 1 p.m. at Rogers Place. More details will be shared in the coming days.
A GoFundMe started by the Edmonton Police Foundation is raising money for the officers’ families.
They will also be eligible for funding from the province’s Heroes Fund, which offers $100,000 to families of first responders who have lost their lives.
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