A Calgary police officer was shot Monday in what began as a traffic stop but spiralled within seconds into a foot chase, a carjacking and a broad-daylight gun battle in a city park.
The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) has been called in to investigate the “active-shooter” incident.
The chase ended with the suspect, a man police said was an organized crime figure, dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Insp. Darren Smith confirmed the chase at one point saw the suspect and police firing at each other with bystanders close by in Edworthy Park, west of downtown.
“(Officers) were yelling at bystanders to get behind vehicles, telling others to run,” Smith told a news conference at the park.
“It was very much a chaotic and dynamic scene.
“I would say it’s out of a movie.”
A group of heavily armed police officers are shown blocking off one of the entrances to Edworthy Park, in Calgary’s southwest, as they search the area for the suspect who shot an officer during a nearby traffic stop.
It started late Monday morning during a traffic stop in the southwest community of Spruce Cliff, near Edworthy Park.
Police said the shooting happened around 11:45 a.m. when a man in a black truck that had been stopped by police “fired shots, striking one of our officers.”
The man then fled on foot into the park and toward the Bow River while continuing to “shoot at pursuing officers and nearby civilians.”
Police said the man then carjacked a vehicle operated by the Canadian Pacific Kansas City Railway, driving it through the park until it became stuck.
He ditched the vehicle and continued to flee on foot while officers continued the chase with help from the Calgary police helicopter (HAWCS).
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Scores of officers from across the city were also dispatched to chase down the suspect.
“On multiple occasions, our offender discharged rounds at our officers and our officers returned fire,” Smith said.
The helicopter overhead struggled but managed to keep the suspect in sight as it dodged in and out of heavy bush while also facing gunfire, Smith added.
Karen Hrncirik was out for a walk in the park when the bullets started flying.
“I was going go into the woods and the helicopter started kind of going right over me, like just basically circling me and I was like, ‘OK , I have this feeling they’re telling me not to go in the woods,'” said Hrncirik.
“So I circled back and as soon as they came around the corner, there’s about three cops, and two of them screamed at me, ‘Run!’
“I’m like, ‘Oh my God.’ So we started sprinting and they said, ‘Get behind a car, get behind your car,’ so we ran and then ducked behind the cars — and then they’re shooting.”
But then Hrncirik realized someone was shooting back towards the police and they were stuck with bullets flying in the area.
“We started to go up the hill, thinking that would be safer, and then someone shot back down us,” she said.
“So then I ran behind the trees — and I’m going down behind each tree, going, ‘Oh my God, we’re not going up.’ So then I met up with three other people and I said, ‘We need to like get low.’ So, we did.”
The group laid on the ground, and Hrncirik said she eventually managed to get away from the scene, but described the experience as “very scary.”
John Deakin, whose house backs onto Edworthy Park, was cleaning his eavestroughs when the gunfire began.
“I heard pop, pop and then pop, pop, pop and I thought, ‘hmm, sounds like firecrackers,'” he said.
After that, a police helicopter began circling and Deakin realized those sounds likely weren’t just firecrackers.
When officers finally caught up with the suspect, he had already taken his life.
They found his body in the Bow River and called in members of the Calgary Fire Department’s aquatic rescue team to help recover it.
The injured police officer was also taken to hospital in stable condition.
“He is stable. He’s in good spirits. He’s talking to our members,” Smith said. Police did not provide details on the injuries.
The shooting prompted police to issue a dangerous person alert shortly after noon, asking people to avoid the area around the park in the city’s southwest.
Area residents were also advised to remain indoors while police investigated.
About 50 minutes after issuing the “dangerous person” alert, police shared an update on social media to say the alert had ended and “the threat is no longer active.”
However, police taped off a large area of Edworthy Park as they continued to search for evidence.
Investigators also issued a plea for any witnesses to give police a call.
— With files from Dayne Patterson, The Canadian Press
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