ABOVE: ASIRT press conference on the investigation into the officer-involved shooting.
The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) has been called in to investigate after Calgary police shot and killed a man early Friday morning.
“We sent a fairly large team of investigators to the scene”, said Sue Hughson, Acting Executive Director of ASIRT.”
“We’re not prepared to comment on exactly what happened.. these types of investigations are very fluid,” she added.
Officers were called out to Langin Place at the 400 block of Macleod Trail around 2:00 A.M.
One resident told police he was being threatened by another person with a gun. Police couldn’t say what prompted the threats as the two men weren’t well known to each other.
Tactical team members entered the building, surrounding the suspect’s unit. Police say the gunman came out of his apartment, approaching officers with a gun.
That’s when police fired two shots, killing the suspect. No officers were injured.
ASIRT said a gun was recovered at the scene.
“Preliminary investigation has revealed that a Carl Walther Model PPK/S BB gun was located near the deceased man,” said Sue Hughson.
Matt, who lives in the building, said he woke up after hearing gunshots. When he looked into the hallway, he saw police officers everywhere with their guns drawn.
“It was loud enough to be a shotgun,” Matt said. “Shotguns got to be louder than a handgun and it was extremely loud. It sounded like two explosions actually.”
The building was evacuated with residents taking shelter in transit buses for some time. Most of them were allowed to return to their homes a few hours later. Others were taken to police headquarters to be interviewed.
Langin Place offers supportive housing for men experiencing mental health and addiction issues. It is a housing project involving Calgary Housing Company and Calgary Alternative Support Services.
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Residents say the man who was shot by police was suffering from serious mental health issues and it wasn’t his first conflict with other residents.
He was only released from hospital about a month and a half ago but residents say he was “too sick” and should not have been discharged.
Calgary’s police chief says it was a difficult situation for the officers involved.
“When our officers come to work, they don’t ever want to be confronted with a situation where they’re required to use deadly force,” said Chief Rick Hanson.
“It is hard on the officer – it’s hard on their families.”
ASIRT can’t say how long their investigation will take.
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