Justin Hunt was 28, and the morning was ordinary until it wasn't.

A Friday morning in October should be unremarkable. The air is cool, the streets are ordinary, and the trade school on 118 Avenue is filled with the quiet hum of people learning a craft. But on October 16, just before 8:30 a.m., that ordinariness was broken by gunfire, and a 28-year-old man named Justin Hunt became the center of an investigation that has since moved with deliberate speed.

Edmonton police responded to reports of a shooting near 160 Street and 118 Avenue and found Hunt suffering from life-threatening injuries . Emergency medical services were called, but Hunt died at the scene. An autopsy was scheduled for the following Monday. Postmedia confirmed that the shooting occurred at the Alberta Pipe Trades College, a detail that adds a particular weight to the loss—a place of learning, of preparation for a future, now marked by violence .

Within hours, police had located a suspect vehicle west of Edmonton. With assistance from Parkland RCMP, officers stopped a dark grey BMW 325i on Highway 16 near Range Road 20 and took three men into custody . Wol Akuei, 21, John Morris, 20, and John Ocwalla, 19 have each been charged with first-degree murder. Ocwalla faces an additional charge of accessory after the fact to murder .

Edmonton police have described the shooting as targeted, a word that offers clarity while leaving much unsaid. It suggests a connection between the shooter and the victim, a prior thread of conflict or intent that preceded the moment the trigger was pulled. But targeted does not mean explained, and the investigation continues. The homicide section is seeking dashcam or CCTV footage of the suspect vehicle between 8:15 and 8:45 a.m. on Friday, specifically along 118 Avenue and 160 Street, Yellowhead Trail between 170 Street and Highway 60, and Highway 60 from Yellowhead Trail to Garden Valley Road . The vehicle, a dark grey BMW 325i, bears notable damage to its rear driver-side fender and taillight, and its license plate was attached by a single screw, hanging at an angle .

For the Alberta Pipe Trades College, the shooting has introduced a grief that institutions are not built to hold. Trade schools are places of apprenticeship and camaraderie, where journeymen pass down skills and young workers find their footing. The loss of a 28-year-old man in such a setting carries a particular ache—a life in the middle of its building.

The three accused have been remanded into custody. Their names are now part of a public record, young men whose futures have narrowed to courtrooms and legal proceedings. The police have not suggested a motive, and the investigation remains open.

Anyone with information or footage of the suspect vehicle is asked to contact Edmonton police at 780-423-4567 or submit an anonymous tip through Crime Stoppers . The work of assembling what happened—frame by frame, witness by witness—continues, as it must.

This article contains AI-generated imagery.

Sources: Edmonton Police Service, CTV News Edmonton, Toronto Sun, Edmonton Sun, Homicide Canada