 A police officer and medical examiner's van leave the scene of a fatal shooting at Great West Chrysler in west Edmonton Friday. A lone gunman entered the dealership shortly before 8 a.m. and shot two people before killing himself. (Jordan Verlage, QMI Agency)
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EDMONTON - A city police constable found her husband fatally shot after a disgruntled employee opened fire in front of horrified staff and customers at a west-end car dealership Friday morning.
Parts manager Garth Radons died after the gunman -- former shop supervisor Dave Burns -- stormed into Great West Chrysler Jeep at 178 Street and Stony Plain Road around 7:45 a.m.
He spoke not a word and showed no emotion. His intent was to kill, says a staffer who witnessed Burns finally turn the shotgun on himself, putting the barrel in his mouth and pulling the trigger.
Before killing himself, Burns also shot and wounded another service department worker who remained in hospital late Friday with wounds to the stomach.
"Dave walked in there, didn't say a f---ing word. He came here with a vengeance and a rage. He came there to kill," said the staff witness, who does not want to be named.
Radons' wife ran directly to her husband's office after arriving on scene, he said.
Moments later the witness heard her screaming, "It's Garth! It's Garth!"
She had to be taken away from the scene by colleagues, a police source told the Edmonton Sun, noting that the slaying has hit the Edmonton Police Service's west division extremely hard.
"They're in shock. The division is reeling, but mainly that crew that she works in is reeling because many of them knew him through her."
She has been an officer for less than two years. The couple have two children.
Officers from the squad were summoned to the nearby division at 16505 100 Ave. to lend their support.
"It's a rough go in west division, that's for sure," said a source.
Burns was to return to work Friday after being suspended for two weeks from the service department.
Colleagues and sources within the industry say he was suspended for posting photos on the Internet that were sexually explicit and meant to embarrass a non-white co-worker.
Investigators said a man arrived at the Chrysler dealership at 17817 Stony Plain Rd., and opened fire. Sherry Motowylo got a frantic call at 7:50 a.m. about the shooting from her husband Mike, who had dropped his truck off to be serviced just 20 minutes earlier.
He told her he saw the gunman shoot one of the victims once before reloading and shooting himself in the head.
Her husband had arrived at the shop around 7:30 a.m. and his wife was to pick him up.
She said he is shaken up by the violent ordeal.
"He heard shots and saw him reload or whatever," said the Fort Saskatchewan resident. "He's shook up, but he's all right."
Police escorted several people out of the service office late in the morning, including two men who were whisked away in a cruiser.
Several others drove off in their personal vehicles on a service road near the lot's main entrance.
City police Insp. Denis Jubinville said it was not a hostage-type situation and confirmed police were not searching for any other gunmen.
Staff said a younger employee was a half-hour late for work and may have become a victim, too, had he not been late.
Employee Max Sesaoi showed up to a sea of police vehicles. He was supposed to start his shift in customer support, but was told he had the day off.
The deadly shooting comes as a blow to everyone who works in the industry.
"It's a wonderful place to work. I've never had any issues at all," said Sesaoi, who has worked at the dealership for three years.
"I never experienced any problems at all with anybody."
He said about 30 people work in the service department.
"Everybody's really friendly around here ... trying to help each other out. I've never had a confrontation or argument with any of the workers."
Investigators with the city police forensics unit scoured the bloody scene in the service department for the rest of the morning and afternoon.
cary.castagna@sunmedia.ca
