4 teens among 7 charged in violent swarming of man: EPS

Jeren Drew, 32, suffered a brain injury when he was assaulted by a group that reportedly included multiple teenagers. CTV News Edmonton's Nav Sangha reports.

A 32-year-old man is still in hospital after a violent swarming incident just after Christmas.

Police got a report of an assault at an apartment complex in the area of 100 Avenue and 102 Street at 4:15 a.m. on Dec. 27.

A 32-year-old man, identified by friends and family as Jeren Drew, was found at the scene with serious, life-threatening injuries.

The Edmonton Police Service says the man was swarmed by a group during an after-hours event in the common room of the building.

Seven people who were unknown to Drew have since been identified, located, arrested and charged, according to EPS.

Two 17-year-old boys were charged with attempted murder, one of the teens is facing additional charges, including possession of a firearm and improper storage of a firearm.

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Codey Trott, 18, Isaiah Saddleback, 21, and a 16-year-old boy have each been charged with aggravated assault.

Another 17-year-old boy was charged with assault with a weapon, possession of a firearm and improper storage of a firearm for assaulting a bystander who tried to stop the attack.

Aleshia Gladue, 20, was charged with uttering threats to cause death or bodily harm, obstruct justice and criminal harassment for threatening witnesses.

“The excessive violence in this incident is shocking and unacceptable,” Det. Roy Paulino said in a news release. “Sadly, the 32-year-old male is unlikely to recover from his injuries and he and his family will be managing the life-long impacts of this attack.”

The minors cannot be named under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

Todd Ross, a friend and colleague of Drew’s, says he had just moved into the building when the attack happened.

“The police called me and said that he wasn’t likely to live and the landlord also called me and said the same thing,” he told CTV News Edmonton on Tuesday.

“He was basically not coherent for about 35 days, or something like that, and then a couple weeks ago, he seemed to wake up and have memory of the incident, and started recognizing people and starting to understand what’s going on.”

Ross says Drew is still having flashbacks of the incident.

“Every time he woke up he’d be in the fight, he felt like he was in the fight it looked like. So they kept sedating him every time he woke up. Try to calm him down because he’s got to get better somehow.”

Ross says Drew suffered a severe brain injury.

“He had a really large clot on his brain and then six smaller ones, bruising throughout his body and a broken jaw.”

He says Drew is an aspiring comedian, and has performed dozens of shows in the Edmonton area.

“He’s a really nice guy, and he performs lots, so he knows a lot of comedians, and so they’re very concerned about him.”

“He’s such a good guy, and he didn’t deserve this at all.”

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Nav Sangha