A woman is dead after being shot by a police officer in Calgary early Tuesday morning.
Calgary police said in a news release that officers tried to stop a driver believed to be impaired in the area of 9 Avenue and Blackfoot Trail just after midnight.
The driver would not stop and continued to drive erratically, running red lights and driving at various speeds. Police tried two more times to stop the driver at about 12:30 a.m., but the vehicle did not stop. Officers stopped pursuing at about 12:40 a.m.
At about 2:20 a.m., police received a call about a driver running red lights and doing U-turns in the community of Falconridge. Police believed the vehicle description matched that of the earlier suspect vehicle.
When they made it to the area, officers said the driver was seen driving into oncoming traffic on multiple occasions throughout the northeast.
Patrol members stopped the vehicle at about 2:40 a.m. at McKnight Boulevard near 68 Street N.E.
When trying to arrest the driver, police said, “the situation quickly escalated and an officer discharged his firearm, striking the driver.”
Police did not provide more details on what transpired before the driver was shot.
Investigators say the driver was a woman in her 30s, whose identity was not confirmed as of 2 p.m. An autopsy is scheduled for Wednesday, Dec. 26.
The officer that fired the gun is a 10-year member of the Calgary police, CPS said.
The Alberta Serious Response Team has taken over the investigation, CPS said. ASIRT said Tuesday it would not be conducting media interviews or issuing a news release.
— With files from Haley Jarmain