‘Pointed a gun at my head’: Frantic 911 call of Alberta highway shooting released

The sign at the Calgary Courts Centre in Calgary, is shown on Friday, Jan. 5, 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Bill Graveland

Newly released audio of the frantic 911 call made by the survivor of a carjacking on a rural Alberta road is revealing harrowing details of the incident in its immediate aftermath.

Matthew Andres was working on a road north of Chestermere on Aug. 6, 2024, when he was approached by men in a Rocky View County pickup truck and ordered to hand over his truck keys.

Andres, who was working for electrical utility FortisAlberta that day, told 911 dispatch he was shot in the arm by one of the men.

“There’s been a shooting east of Conrich, I’ve been shot in the arm,” he told RCMP dispatch in a 10-minute recording released to media on Wednesday.

“He f—ing pointed a gun right at my head,” Andres said in the recording.

“A Rocky View employee pulled up and the gunman also shot him.”

“They’re in the middle of the road…they don’t look to be moving.”

That employee was later identified as 45-year-old Colin Hough. He was shot three times and died at the scene.

Andres told the dispatch operator he was shot in the arm, with the bullet going right through. He added he ran a “couple hundred metres down the road” to escape them.

He also described the suspects as being two men, one of whom carried a pistol, had light brown skin and wore a blue face mask and a grey cap.

Accused men facing murder charges

The two men accused in the case — Elijah Strawberry and Arthur Penner — are both currently on trial in Calgary for second-degree murder and attempted murder.

They pleaded not guilty on Monday. Their trial, which began this week, is expected to last a month.

Andres, who is now 41, testified on Tuesday and told court he was in the area that day doing survey work when a vehicle approached him with what sounded like a flat tire.

That’s when the passenger of the truck got out of the vehicle and demanded the keys to his truck, he said in court on Tuesday.

“The next thing that happened was I felt the shot go through my arm,” he said.

Court heard Andres was approached by the men three times in total and was lying flat on the ground at one point, fearing for his life.

“I was screaming, ‘No!’ and ‘Please!’ I thought I was going to die,” he said.

He told court he ran and hid in a nearby ditch when the pair moved toward his truck. He testified that he tried to get the attention of approaching vehicles and kept running for his life while doing so.

The 911 call captures Andres flagging down a vehicle for help while he is running.

“Help, help, help, help, stop. There’s been a shooting up there,” Andres yells in the recording.

— With files from The Canadian Press