A Medicine Hat man is in custody on explosive charges after someone threw an object at propane tanks outside a Kingsway Avenue business Sunday night, triggering an explosion that sent bystanders to EMS.
Police responded to the 600 block of Kingsway Avenue SE around 10 p.m. on May 11. The impact caused a small explosion. EMS treated people at the scene for minor smoke inhalation. No property damage was reported.
Medicine Hat Man Charged With Three Offences
Following an investigation, Medicine Hat Police Service charged Shaylon Witts, 38, with using explosives, making or possessing an explosive substance, and disobeying a court order. The third charge means Witts had conditions imposed by a court already in place at the time of the incident.
Witts was remanded into custody and is scheduled to appear in Medicine Hat Provincial Court on May 15.
What Police Have Not Said
MHPS has not released details on what object was thrown, how many people were treated, or the nature of the business at the location. The investigation is ongoing.
A Busy Few Weeks for MHPS
The Witts arrest is the latest in a stretch of criminal charges out of Medicine Hat. In the past two weeks alone, police have charged a 17-year-old for allegedly threatening people with a machete, arrested two men in connection with a stolen truck and trailer, and are separately investigating a major crime unit file after a man was found injured at a southeast residence on April 29.
It fits a broader picture. Alberta's violent crime rate ran 7.7 per cent higher than the national average in 2024, according to provincial data released last December, and property crime in the province was 33.5 per cent above the national rate, even as both figures improved year over year.
Charges against Witts have not been proven in court.
SOURCES: Medicine Hat Police Service – May 13, 2026: https://www.mhps.ca/posts/post/65360 Medicine Hat News – December 30, 2025: https://medicinehatnews.com/news/local-news/2025/12/30/alberta-continues-to-exceed-national-averages-on-crime-despite-improvements-over-past-five-years/
