A daycare operator in southwest Edmonton is calling out the Edmonton police for not telling them or four other daycares in the area about an active shooting last week, despite nearby schools going into lockdown or put on alert.
“I don’t believe that the police officers were there to keep our children safe as well. I think they were just kind of there to make to do their business, and that was the end of it. I don’t feel like they had our best interest at heart,” said Isabel McRae, the executive director, BRITE Beginnings Early Learning and Childcare Centre.
Edmonton police say two teens were hospitalized in shooting near Saddleback Road and 27 Avenue just before 1:30 p.m. Thursday.
Reports indicate shots were fired from a vehicle that fled the scene.
A 15 and 16-year-old reportedly struck and taken to hospital. Police say a boy who knew both victims is facing charges.
Sweetgrass Elementary School was put on lockdown when the shooting was unfolding. The school is close, just around the corner but can’t quite be it from the location of the shooting; however, multiple daycares in the plaza can be seen, including the front door of BRITE Beginnings, which is just a couple steps away from where the violence unfolded.
But the operator says police didnt warn them about what was happening.
McRae had to move quickly when she got a call from her employee who heard shots fired outside.
“Crime scene tape was 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,” said McRae.
Children just minutes away from being sent to the daycare, to an active crime scene before she intervened.
She explained that Thursday is early release day, and noted that one boy was already on the bus on the way, but she was thankfully able to redirect the bus.
McRae feels the children in her care, plus kids on nap time in the daycares in the plaza and nearby unaware of the violence, were not prioritized.
“Less valued would be the way for me to say. Why are children sitting in a classroom more important than ours?” she asked.
She’s asking for a meeting with police leadership to figure out how to make children safer in the future, wanting to see changes to their automatic alert system so childcare and daycare spaces, like schools are notified too, even if that means changes in legislation so they too can know if they need to take shelter if danger is near.
“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?”
Despite its location near schools, daycares and a shopping centre, Edmonton police did not notify the broader public about the shooting the day it happened.
CityNews reached out to Edmonton police regarding the matter, but haven’t heard back.
Area where two teens were shot on Oct. 8, 2026. (Matt Battochio, CityNews)
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