Norman Walter Raddatz, 42, has been named as the suspect who shot and killed Edmonton police Const. Dan Woodall Monday night.
Raddatz was known to police but did not have an extensive criminal record, Chief Rod Knecht said during a news conference Tuesday morning.
However, he did have lengthy hate crimes file in relation to the online harassment of an Edmonton family dating back to February 2014.
Woodall was one of at least three officers sent to a west Edmonton home to serve Raddatz with an arrest warrant when shots from a high-powered rifle were fired through the door of the home, Knecht said.
Police counted 53 bullet holes in the house and garage across the street from the home. Police did not return fire, Knecht said.
A body was found in the burned-out basement of the home, but police are waiting for autopsy results for identification and cause of death.
Police are not looking for any other suspects.
Woodall and Sgt. Jason Harley were caught completely by surprise when they went to the home to serve an arrest warrant last night, Maurice Brodeur, Edmonton Police Association president, told CBC News earlier Tuesday morning.
“They had a warrant and suddenly shots rang out through the door,” he said. “There was no warning.”
Const. Daniel Woodall, shown here with wife Claire, was shot and killed Monday night on a visit to a home in Edmonton along with his partner. (Facebook)
Police are always vulnerable when knocking on doors, Brodeur said, adding that “99.9 per cent nothing happens, but this one time, it just went all bad.”
Brodeur said Woodall’s partner, who was also at the scene, is “completely shook up.”
“He’s just overcome by guilt and anger over the whole situation, guilt that somehow he could have done something to help.
“I know for a fact there’s nothing he could have done,” said Brodeur. “It was just one of those tragic incidences that no one can really plan for.
“It’s not different than the many many doors you knock on to investigate.”
Woodall, 35, had been with EPS for eight years, after being recruited from Great Britain, where he served with the Greater Manchester Police.
He was shot several times.
Firefighters and police officers were still at the scene Tuesday morning following the shooting the night before. The house burned to the ground. (Lydia Neufeld/CBC)
Harley, 38, was shot in the back, but the round was stopped by his vest. He was treated and released from hospital.
The officers were members of the Edmonton Police Hate Crimes Unit and were attempting to arrest a suspect for criminal harassment. Knecht confirmed that the arrest was related to a hate-crimes matter.
The home at the centre of the shootout was subsequently engulfed in flames.
It’s believed the suspect is dead.
‘There was no warning,’ police president says7:46
