1 dead after early morning stabbing along Macleod Trail

Calgary police took two people into custody on Thursday after a fatal stabbing in the city's downtown core.

Officers were called to the City Hall LRT station at 3 a.m. and found a man suffering from stab wounds.

He was taken to hospital in life-threatening condition, but later died. 

Investigators determined the man was stabbed in Olympic Plaza and made his way to the CTrain station before collapsing.

After reviewing security footage and speaking with witnesses, police were able to track down two suspects, a man and a woman, who were arrested without incident.

An autopsy was scheduled for Thursday, but the name of the victim hasn't been released. 

Calgary police say the death is Calgary's eighth homicide of 2023.

Anyone with information is asked to call police at 403-266-1234 or to submit tips anonymously through Crime Stoppers.

PERCEPTION VERSUS REALITY

Mark Garner, executive director of the Calgary Downtown Association, says while it may seem like violent crime in the downtown core is on the rise, that's actually not the case.

"That perception is more about perceived safety issues versus the actual safety issues," he said.

Statistics supplied by the Calgary Police Service back up Garner's assertion that violent crime is actually not rising downtown.

In fact, they show a consistent gradual decline in total year-to-date violent crime over the last five years; 141 incidents between January and April in 2019, compared to 123 during the same period this year.

Statistics on violent crime reported in downtown Calgary, as supplied by the Calgary Police Service. Garner believes the perception that downtown Calgary is more unsafe comes from unfair stereotypes about Calgary's homeless population, which has increased since the pandemic.

"When you see somebody (that is) homeless, that is perceived as a safety issue, and as I say, there's not a lot of people that are homeless that are bad, and it's not everybody that's bad that is homeless.”Calgary police investigate a fatal stabbing that took place near the City Hall LRT station on Thursday, May 25, 2023.