The family of a man shot and killed by police two years ago has filed a civil suit against the Calgary Police Service.
Anthony Heffernan, 27, was shot and killed at the Super 8 Motel on Barlow Trail N.E. in March, 2015.
Officers had gone to the hotel on a check-on-welfare call and found Heffernan in a drug-induced state. They were concerned about a syringe he was holding, though it later turned out it contained no needle tip.
Police fired a stun gun at Heffernan and when he still refused to drop the syringe, he was shot six times.
Heffernan’s brother Grant told Global News the family hopes the $225,000 lawsuit will prevent similar deaths.
“There has been a pattern of police aggression over the last few years and they have to be held accountable for it,” Grant said. “Unfortunately, our decision with ASIRT and the crown was unsuccessful so this is our next step in the judicial system.”
ASIRT, the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team, took over the investigation and recommended that charges be laid against the officer involved. But, the crown disagreed.
The Alberta Crown Prosecution Service (ACPS) reviewed the case, and determined that there “was no reasonable likelihood of conviction and the recommendation was that no charges be laid against the subject officer.”
Grant is hoping his family might finally get some answers with a civil suit.
“This officer will have to go on the stand. He’ll have to talk to the judge and jury,” he said. “All the other questions that we have of what happened in the afternoon that day, and why after only 72 seconds – my brother was alone, by himself, he had both hands in the air – why they decided to Taser and kill him.”
The Calgary Police Service says it has yet to see the actual claim and won’t comment now that the issue is before the courts.