One person is dead after a commercial break and enter led to a Calgary police officer firing their gun Tuesday morning.
Several police units swarmed a vacant building in the northeast community of Franklin around 4:20 a.m. Two ambulances, an EMS supervisor and the fire department were all present for a brief period of time.
In a news release, Calgary police said officers went to a vacant building in Franklin Industrial Park for reports of a break and enter. According to CPS, once the officer found the man, a physical confrontation took place where the suspect assaulted the officer with an unconfirmed weapon.
“Due to the rapidly changing dynamics of this confrontation, one officer discharged their service weapon,” police said in a news release.
At an unrelated press conference, CPS Chief Mark Neufeld said the officers on the scene tried to assist the individual immediately after.
“I’m told there were officers at the scene who were former medics that were able to give immediate first aid. Sadly, that was not enough,” Neufeld told reporters.
Though CPR was administered, the suspect was pronounced dead at the scene. The officer sustained injuries and was treated on scene by EMS.
A few units were still at the scene as of 7:03 a.m., which is also when detectives arrived. As the building is 110,000 square feet, it was expected for police to be at the scene for a bit longer.
Around 7:32 a.m. the medical examiner showed up at the scene. Police said as the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) will be taking over the investigation, no further comment is expected.
As of 8:45 a.m., the police presence was not blocking any traffic.
Neufeld was unable to speak to the events that led up to the gun being fired, like whether someone was in a mental health crisis. But he said there could be valuable lessons.
“I think in cases like that, you’ve got to look back and say, were there possibilities or opportunities to be able to intervene and get somebody connected to services and supports? And if there was, how did that go?” the police chief said.
“Because I think there is an opportunity to try to prevent these things from happening, and that’s to everybody’s benefit.”
–with files from Adam Toy, Global News