Break-and-enter suspect shot dead by Calgary police in Franklin Industrial Park

A man is dead after being shot by police early Tuesday morning.

The incident occured at a three-storey building in the 3000 block of Second Avenue S.E., just north of Memorial Drive, in the Franklin Industrial Park.

"At about 4:20 this morning, police were called to that address in the southeast," Chief Const. Mark Neufeld of the Calgary Police Service told CTV News. "It's a commercial building and there was a break-and-enter to the area.

"When (officers) got there, they ended up finding an individual inside the building. The individual confronted members, allegedly in possession of a weapon, and it resulted in an officer-involved shooting."

Police say the man died on scene.

“I'm told there were officers at the scene who were former medics that were able to give immediate first aid but sadly that was not enough,” Neufeld said.

According to police, the suspect attacked an officer with a weapon, but police are not saying what type of weapon.

Neufeld confirms that a CPS member was injured during the response and treated on scene by EMS for minor injuries.

He says the officer is expected to recover physically, but it’ll be harder emotionally.

“I think sometimes there's a belief that these are just part of doing business or whatever. And I can tell you without equivocation, it's not the case,” Neufeld said.

“These situations are always very difficult for officers.”

A business next door to where the break-in happened says theft has been a problem in the area recently.

“We’ve noticed quite a bit more uptake and homelessness around and you know, different break-ins and stuff. So we're kind of used to it around here,” said Kevin Kelln, owner of KDR Installations.

“We’ve had our catalytic converter stolen out of the truck, once here and twice at our previous shop. We’ve had people in the back of our trucks overnight.”

This is the second time a Calgary police officer has shot a suspect in less than a week.

The other happened last Wednesday in the northwest neighbourhood of Highwood.

In that situation, police say a man pointed a gun at officers, was shot by police and taken to hospital in stable condition.

Doug King, a justice studies professor at Mount Royal University, says there has been a shift in the way suspects behave around police.

“The world has changed, particularly coming out of the pandemic,” he said.

“Mental health issues are running rampant. We have substance use disorders running rampant, and police officers are being faced with more aggressive situations themselves.”

Neufeld echoes those concerns.

“I think there is an opportunity to try to prevent these things from happening and that's to everybody's benefit if we could do that,” he said.

The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) is investigating the actions of police to determine if the use of force was justified.

The identity of the deceased has not been released.