Daycare warns police failed to alert them during drive-by shooting near Edmonton school

A daycare operator says Edmonton police failed to warn her facility during a drive-by shooting Thursday afternoon that hospitalized two teenagers, raising questions about who gets emergency alerts when violence erupts near schools and childcare centres.

The shooting occurred near Saddleback Road and 27 Avenue just before 1:30 p.m. Two teens, ages 15 and 16, were hospitalized. Police locked down Sweetgrass Elementary School nearby, but five daycares in the area—including BRITE Beginnings Early Learning and Childcare Centre, located steps from the shooting—received no alert.

Isabel McRae, executive director of BRITE Beginnings, learned of the shooting from an employee who heard gunfire. Thursday was an early-release day, and one child was already on a bus heading to the centre when shots were fired. McRae redirected the bus before it reached the crime scene, where she later saw "crime scene tape everywhere. Multiple police officers. There was detectives, people taking pictures already. Vehicles actually that had been shot with the drive-by shooting were still in the parking lot exposed."

McRae is seeking a meeting with Edmonton police leadership to request changes to the alert system. "The kids that were sitting in those schools are the same children that were coming back to our site. We care for the same children. We're under the same ministry. Why are we not getting the same response?" she said Edmonton. "Less valued would be the way for me to say. Why are children sitting in a classroom more important than ours?"

She's calling for legislative changes to ensure daycares receive the same emergency notifications as schools. Edmonton police did not notify the broader public about the shooting on the day it occurred. A boy who knew both victims faces charges. When asked for comment, police have not responded.