Saskatoon business owner says city isn't safe after armed robberies

The owner of a convenience store on Saskatoon's west side says a recent spike in crime at his store has him rethinking his move to the city.

AhmadKhan has owned and operated Westmount Foods for the past year. In the past four months, the store has been robbed four times. Three of those incidents have involved guns andKhan has been the one staring down the barrel of a gun on two occasions.

"There are no feelings in you," said Khan. "You are lifeless. Paralyzed. You are just praying to God that they just take the money and everything and go."

Khan and his family moved to Saskatoon from Pakistan thinking it was going to be a good move.

"I made the biggest mistake of my life. My first mistake was coming here. My second mistake was opening this business."

The most recent robbery wason Monday. Four people stormed the store wanting cash and cigarettes. One of the suspects had a hand gun. Khan wasn't working at the time. The employee who was, quit the next day.

"It's not easy. If you faced this situation you'd know the feelings I have."

Outside of the store there are four surveillance cameras. Inside the store, there are 20. Still, the thieves seemed undeterred from being caught on camera.

"Whenever the door opens my heartbeat goes from 72 to I don't know. My blood pressure and my legs get shivering."

Khan is actively searching for someone to purchase the store so he and his family can move back to Pakistan.

Spike in crime

Saskatoon Police openly admit they areconcerned aboutmore crime in the city. Since the beginning of this year there have been 50 armed robberies. That's up from 33 during the same time last year.

"It's very difficult for a police service to prevent violent crime from occurring," said Alyson Edwards, Saskatoon police spokesperson. "Hopefully what we're seeing here is a spike in numbers that will level out throughout the year."

Edwards says the severity of crimes is increasing all the time.

"It's concerning to us because we're seeing more firearms than we ever have before. We're seeing more of the drug trade than we ever have before, and we're seeing people who are more desperate to get quick money for their drugs than ever before."

Edwards says police know that the majority of these crimes are directly related to the drug trade in the city.

"As a service we are becoming concerned how brazen some of these incidents are."

And it's not just limited to the west side.

"We have drug interactions that result in violence all over the city," said Edwards. "I think that people would be jumping to conclusions if they assumed it was just an issue for one side or the other."