A man has pleaded guilty to firearms charges in connection with a shooting at a West Edmonton Mall parking lot three years ago. On Aug. 21, 2023, three people were shot in a parkade at the mall. No one died as a result of the shootings. Leron Andrew John was charged with discharging a firearm with intent, reckless discharging of a firearm, possession of a prohibited firearm with ammunition, and altering the serial number of a firearm after being arrested in the Northwest Territories in January 2025. According to the agreed statement of facts in the case, John has never had a licence to possess firearms or a registration certificate for any restricted or prohibited firearms. Shooting timeline According to court documents, John was with four other men on the evening of the shooting. The group signed up to shoot handguns at the Wild West Shooting Centre. While they were in the mall, a white Chevrolet Trailblazer SUV entered the mall parking lot and waited for about 40 minutes. After the group finished shooting at the gun range, they returned their rented firearms and left the centre at 7:40 p.m. As they walked through the parking lot to their vehicle, the white SUV pulled out of a parking stall and followed them. One of the people inside the SUV fired a .45 calibre gun in the direction of the group. The men in the group ducked behind vehicles in the parking lot. The documents show John pulled out a 9 mm handgun that he had on him and started shooting in the direction of the white SUV. After he fired the shots, the SUV pulled up next to him, and he fired six times. At least three bullets fired by John hit the SUV. The white SUV then left the parking lot. Three of the men John was with were shot during the altercation. Many other people were present in the parking lot at the time of the shooting, including children, but no other injuries were reported. At least four vehicles that did not belong to anyone in either group were hit by stray bullets. After the shooting, John ran back inside the Wild West Shooting Centre while still in possession of the gun, along with at least one of the men he had been with. The other man collapsed on the floor from injuries sustained during the shooting, and John proceeded into the mall while still carrying the gun. The mall was put into lockdown at that time after mall security got reports of 911 calls about the shooting from police. The court documents estimate thousands of people were inside the mall when it was placed on lockdown. Surveillance video from the mall showed John joining other people inside a jewelry store during the lockdown. He then left the store and walked through the common area of the mall. He was captured on security video discarding something in a garbage can, later determined to be the handgun and an additional firearm magazine. The handgun, which is a prohibited weapon in Canada, had its serial number removed. According to the agreed statement of facts, John knew it was defaced. Police were later able to recover the serial number on the gun, and traced it back to a man who pleaded guilty to trafficking handguns in an unrelated case. After discarding the gun, John was stopped by a mall security guard for walking around during the lockdown and was escorted to an exit. The security guard was not aware that he was a person of interest at the time of the interaction. John left the mall at 8:10 p.m. on foot. West Edmonton Mall lockdown Emergency crews arrived on scene and provided first aid to two of the injured men still in the parking lot as well as the injured man inside the shooting range. The lockdown remained in place for over two hours, ending at 10 p.m. During that time, it was treated as an active shooter event with EPS securing the mall’s 22 public entrances and multiple employee-only access points. The lockdown was extended after a person made a fake comment on an online forum claiming to be the shooter and saying he was hiding under a slide in the waterpark. The court documents also show a person experienced a medical incident during the lockdown and required intervention. Many people were unable to access their vehicles when they were allowed to leave the mall, and police and other emergency personnel had to coordinate transportation arrangements for them. The event also reduced ambulance capacity across the city as multiple units were directed to the mall to deal with the injured, the medical emergency, and stress-related reactions from mall customers. After the shooting, police discovered that the white Chevrolet SUV had been reported stolen two weeks earlier. It was found in flames in a rural area on Highway 16A and ATIM Road in Parkland County the day after the shooting. The occupants of the SUV have not been conclusively identified. Identifying and locating John A warrant was issued for John in May 2024 in the case after a lengthy investigation by the Edmonton Police Service. John had a trial date of Nov. 1, 2024, for unrelated charges in the Northwest Territories. He was scheduled to be taken into custody on the Edmonton charges that day but failed to appear in court. He was included on the list of Canada’s 25 most wanted people BOLO program in December 2024. On Jan. 10, 2025, he was arrested in Hay River, N.W.T., after police responded to a call at a home about an unrelated matter. On Wednesday, John pleaded guilty to possession of a weapon without authorization and possession of a firearm knowing the serial number had been altered or removed. A sentencing date will be set in the future. With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Amanda Anderson
