'I felt extremely scared': Alberta man recounts random attack outside Tsuut'ina Nation shopping centre

An Alberta man is speaking out after he was brutally attacked outside a shopping centre on the Tsuut'ina First Nation earlier this month.

"I felt extremely scared. I thought I was never going to see my mom and my family again," Zubayer Rifat said.

The attack happened in the parking lot of the Dollarama on Buffalo Run Boulevard around 5 p.m. on Jan. 14.

While putting items in his car, Rifat says a man approached him with a gun in one hand and a hammer in the other.

"He said, 'get inside the car, don't move … or I'll shoot you,'" Rifat said.

Rifat says his instincts told him not to, so he backed away and asked him what he wanted.

That's when he says the man came toward him with the hammer.

"I took about six shots to my head with the hammer and three to four shots to my hand," Rifat said.

He says two strangers intervened and the suspect took off.

"I'm grateful to them. They saved my life," Rifat said.

Rifat was taken to hospital, where he received more than 60 stitches on his head.

He has a skull fracture, blood clot, concussion, nerve damage on one side of his face and broken arm.

Rifat's mother Sunny says it hurts to see her son in pain.

"I just don’t know what I do wrong, what my son do wrong," she told CTV News.

"I don't want anything, I need justice for my son."

The Tsuut'ina Nation Police Service confirms it is investigating the assault.

"As this is an active and complex investigation, no details will be released until the investigative team is ready to publicly provide them," police said in a statement.

Temitope Oriola, a criminology professor at the University of Alberta, says it's important to address the root causes of crime in order to prevent it.

"The violence on our streets, especially of a seemingly random nature, is a manifestation of much deeper situations beyond a particular episode or encounter," he said.

"This would include things like unemployment, mental health issues, alienation, social isolation."

Rifat hasn't been able to work since the attack.

One of Rifat's friends has set up an online fundraiser to provide financial support to him while he recovers.

Rifat says he is afraid for his safety and doesn't plan on returning to that shopping centre again.

He says he is now more vigilant while out in public and is urging others to be as well.

"To raise awareness so other people can be more cautious and aware of their surroundings and where they are. I hope this doesn't happen to anyone else."