An Alberta resident described the attack near the Tsuutina shopping center

An Alberta man is speaking out after being brutally attacked outside a shopping center in the Tsuutina First Nation earlier this month.

“I was very scared. I thought I would never see my mother and family again,” said Zubayer Rifat.

The attack happened around 5:00 pm on January 14th in the Dollarama parking lot on Buffalo Run Blvd.

As Rifat was loading things into his car, he was approached by a man 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 gut tells him not to, so he pulls back and asks her what she wants.

At that time, he says, the man came towards him with a hammer.

“I shot six times in the head and three or four times in the hand with a hammer,” says Rifat.

According to him, two strangers intervened and the suspect took off.

“I am grateful to them. They saved my life,” said Rifat.

Rifat was taken to the hospital and received more than 60 stitches on his head.

He suffered a fractured skull, blood clots, concussion, nerve damage on one side of his face, and a broken arm.

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

“I don't know what I did, what my son doesn't do,” she told CTV News.

“I don't want anything, my son needs justice.”

The National Police Service of Tsuutina confirmed that it was investigating the attack.

“Because this is an active and complex investigation, no details will be released until the investigative team is ready to release them,” police said in a statement.

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

“Violence on our streets, especially the seemingly random ones, is a reflection of much deeper conditions beyond a specific episode or encounter,” he said.

“It includes things like unemployment, mental health issues, alienation, social isolation.”

Rifat could not work after the attack.

One of Rifat's friends organized an online fundraiser to financially support his recovery.

Rifat says he fears for his safety and does not intend to return to the mall.

He says he is now sober in public and encourages others to be too.

“To be aware so other people can be careful and know their surroundings and where they are. I hope this doesn't happen to anyone else.”