An officer-involved shooting resulted in the death of one woman earlier this morning, prompting police to warn about the rise in dangerous crime and serious situations city-wide.
Calgary Police Service (CPS) officials provided an update on Wednesday morning on the officer-involved shooting that happened in the southeast community of Legacy in the early hours of Aug. 26.
Police were called to a home in the 200 block of Legacy Circle S.E. at approximately 1:20 a.m., where they conducted a welfare check on the woman inside, who had called them herself. De-escalation efforts were initially successful, but roughly an hour later, the woman exited the home with a weapon.
One officer fired a non-lethal round, and another officer fired their service weapon, striking the woman. Despite police conducting life-saving resuscitation efforts, she was declared dead at the scene.
During the incident, a gas meter ruptured, causing a gas leak in the community. Once the situation was under control, CPS Duty Inspector Shelby Stewart confirmed that police quickly assisted in evacuating nearby residents.
The Calgary Fire Department secured the scene, and residents were soon allowed to re-enter their homes. Details about the cause of the gas leak, the weapon, and the woman’s mental status prior to the incident have not been disclosed.
As per protocol, the police notified the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team, which is conducting an independent investigation into these details. The findings will become available at a later date.
One officer was taken to hospital for precautionary measures after inhaling gas on the scene. Another officer was evaluated by medics and cleared. Currently, no officer is believed to have sustained serious injuries from the incident.
Officers are increasingly vulnerable as violent crime rises, says police chief
At the media availability, CPS chief Katie McLellan said that the woman was known to police and that officers had responded to calls at the home in the past several months.
McLellan said that officers are responding to situations involving firearms almost eight times a day, and that codes related to dangerous incidents are being called approximately 40 times each month.
“Unfortunately, as I’ve said recently, this has become a new normal, and it has consequences for our officers, their families, our service, and the community that we are here to protect,” she said.
“Officer-involved shootings are among the most difficult moments we face as a service.”
Last year, McLellan said that the CPS had seized more than 270 criminal weapons, and that today they have already seized more than 470. She said that the increase in firearms could be due to the city’s growing population and prevalence of organized crime.
Additionally, McLellan said that complex situations where there is a threat to the well-being of officers have become more common recently, citing the most recent event as the active shooter at Edworthy Park, where one officer was shot on Aug. 10.
Despite the extensive training officers receive on de-escalation tactics, she said these incidents have become more common and that responding to them requires deploying a substantial number of officers, limiting the service’s ability to attend other calls.
“I can tell you, just over these last couple of weeks, dynamic calls, day in, day out, doesn’t matter what day of the week, what time of the day,” said McLellan.
“Our members are being injured in these situations, and it’s taking them away from their duties.”
Anyone with information has been asked to contact the police non-emergency line at (403) 266-1234 or submit an anonymous tip through Crime Stoppers.
