A woman was shot and killed by members of the Calgary Police Service overnight when officers responded to a welfare check in the city’s southeast Legacy neighbourhood.
CPS said they received a call around 1:30 a.m. to check on the welfare of a woman at a home on the 200 block of Legacy Circle.
Police Chief Katie McLellan said officers had encountered the woman several times in recent months.
Around 2:30 a.m., the woman came out of the home with a weapon. Police have not said what the weapon was, just that it had been recovered from the scene.
The situation then escalated, police said, and an officer shot and killed the woman.
“What occurred this morning is just one incident in a string of concerning events where officers have been confronted with violence, weapons and rapidly escalating threats while responding to calls around Calgary,” McLellan said at a news conference.
“This is a significant concern.”
During the encounter, a gas meter ruptured, causing a leak.
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One officer was taken to hospital as a result of gas exposure and another officer was treated by medics on scene.
Neighbours in the area told Global News they were woken between 2:30 and 3 a.m. and asked to evacuate due to the leak. Fire crews shut off the gas line and residents were able to return soon after.
Area resident Jeremy Siemens said he noticed one neighbour wasn’t returning to their house and when he inquired about why, the neighbour told him he saw a woman lying on the ground.
Siemens said he didn’t know the people living in the house but he had seen police there one afternoon about a week ago.
“They parked down there, and then they walked in, and then they were hanging out in the lawn there for a while,” he told Global News.
The incident has left him shaken.
“It’s terrible,” he said. “It’s not what you think.”
Nate Nicker, who lives on the same street, said Calgary police and emergency services have become a common sight in the community.
Chief McLellan said encounters that begin as routine can change in seconds and more often than ever before, firearms are part of the new reality.
About eight times a day police encounter situations involving firearms, she said, and there are about 40 calls a month about an officer in trouble.
“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.”
McLellan said there’s constant anxiety about the safety of her officers. “It’s what keeps me up at night.”
The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team is investigating, as is standard practice for police-involved shootings. ASIRT investigates incidents involving police that result in serious injury or death, as well as serious or sensitive allegations involving police conduct.
With files from Bill Graveland, The Canadian Press
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