A 61-year-old man was critically injured while trying to stop an alleged theft at an Edmonton mall, police said.
Officers were called to Southgate Centre just before 10:30 a.m. Tuesday after it was reported that a man had stolen something from a business inside the mall.
鈥淲e determined that a shopkeeper had observed a male trying to steal an item out of a kiosk in the mall, and he went to intervene with the male suspect, and was severely beaten,鈥� Edmonton police Insp. Erik Johnson said Tuesday.
Witness Rene Rodrigue told CTV Edmonton that he saw a young male in a group using wire cutters in an attempt to detach and remove a cash register from an unattended kiosk in the mall. He said he saw the victim, identified on social media as Iain Armstrong, confront the perpetrator.
鈥淗e tried to detain him by grabbing ahold of him,鈥� Rodrigue said. 鈥淭here was a scuffle. A couple of blows were thrown from the perpetrator to the Good Samaritan. The perpetrator pulled him further down the hall, slammed him against another kiosk. That鈥檚 where he sustained the injury.鈥�
Armstrong is reportedly one of the founders of the Bunches Floral shop in the mall. A 鈥淧ray for Iain Armstrong鈥� Facebook page said the injuries he sustained in the attack could be life changing.
鈥淭ests this morning revealed Iain has less brain damage than was expected, which is good to hear. However, Iain has a severe spinal cord injury that has resulted in paralysis,鈥� the statement read.
The suspect is still at large, but police say surveillance cameras captured 鈥渧ery good pictures鈥� of him. The other young males who were with the suspect were taken into custody at the scene.
With a report from CTV Edmonton
