The Edmonton Police Service (EPS) said on Tuesday two groups engaged in a gun battle in the parking lot of West Edmonton mall the night before, resulting in three men being shot.."We want to reassure the citizens of Edmonton that their safety is still sound. We believe this was a targeted incident and it wasn't random in nature. And finally to correct some of the misinformation out there that has been circulating online and social media," said EPS Deputy Chief Darren Derko..Derko said on Monday night, around 7:40 p.m., it was reported that four males left the mall and all went to their vehicle.."A second vehicle, a white coloured SUV approached them and subsequently resulted in an exchange of gunfire," Derko said.."Two of the males collapsed on the pavement with serious injuries. And the two others went into the mall. One went into the Wild West Shooting Range with gunshot wounds, while the other fled to the mall.".READ MORE: Shooting at West Edmonton Mall forces lockdown, three hospitalized with gunshot wounds."We do not believe that individual sustained any injuries and at this time the fourth male has not been located nor have the people from the white SUV."."We believe we've recovered the SUV that was involved in the shooting it's just currently being seized."."We can't confirm if it was or not.".Various police resources and units citywide were deployed to the WEM, including EPS tactical teams as there was an imminent concern for safety. The mall was placed on lockdown and tactical officers swept the building.."Officers eventually recovered a handgun from inside the mall believed to be that of one of the people involved in the shooting," Derko said.."As mentioned in our updates overnight, we believe this was a targeted incident between two groups and the events leading up to the shooting are evidence of that those groups are and their motivations behind the shooting are still not clear.".Derko said he does not believe there is any risk to the community at this time.."As with any major incident in a public place, we understand citizens are very concerned. We know there was a lot of misinformation circulating including suggestions and multiple people were deceased, which was thankfully is not the case. I want to be clear about one thing though, we are incredibly lucky that nobody lost their life."
