Throughout the evening of Thursday, Jan. 25 into Friday, Jan. 26, 2024, police attended an apartment building in the area of 107 Street and 79 Avenue to assist provincial bailiffs in carrying out a Court order against a male who had barricaded himself in his suite. Negotiations with the male subject were ongoing since approximately 5 p.m. that Thursday.
While police were on scene, a fire broke out in the suite where the subject male resided, and the building had to be evacuated. The male was taken into custody at approximately 12:48 a.m. Edmonton Fire Rescue Services (EFRS) and EMS attended, and ETS buses were provided to shelter the evacuated residents. Several evacuees were taken to the hospital, and have since recovered from their physical injuries.
Jason Zabos, 44, was subsequently charged with arson disregard for human life, mischief, obstruct peace officer and a breach of a court order, and was released on a Release Order by a Justice of the Peace.
On Wednesday, Apr. 10, 2024, police received a missing person report seeking the whereabouts of Ricardo Olivares, 70. Olivares’ family had not heard from him since January 5, 2024, and reported him missing after discovering the apartment building where he lived had burned down. On Monday, Apr. 22, 2024, the EPS Missing Persons Unit, with the assistance of EFRS and EPS Canine Unit, conducted a further search of the building wreckage and discovered Mr. Olivares’ remains.
On Wednesday, Apr. 24, 2024, the Edmonton Medical Examiner completed an autopsy and determined Olivares died as a result of smoke inhalation. The manner of death is homicide.
On May 3, 2024, Zabos was scheduled to attend court, where he was arrested in relation to Olivares’ death. A charge of manslaughter and a second charge of arson disregard for human life are pending.
The Director of Law Enforcement (DLE) was notified at the time of the fire and again following the discovery of the death, and determined that the incident remains outside the scope of an ASIRT review.