Calgary Police Service apologizes after Marlborough Park charges stayed
A week after a man was shot to death in a northeast Calgary parking lot and two teen brothers were arrested, police say 'new evidence' has led to those charges being stayed.
The Calgary Police Service released this statement in response to the development, apologizing to those charged, their family and the community:
Earlier today, all charges laid against two brothers, aged 14 and 18, in relation to the homicide of 23-year-old Rami Hajj Ali were stayed after new evidence came to light.
Following the shooting that occurred last week, police responded to the area and received valuable information from witnesses to the incident, which turned our attention upon a particular vehicle that was leaving the area of the shooting.
This was the beginning of a complex chain of events that led to the arrest of numerous individuals, the execution of warrants on two homes and two vehicles, and ultimately a case was made that supported the charges. In coming to a decision to lay those charges, homicide investigators were acting upon the information and evidence that was available to them up to that point.
Since then, new evidence has come to light that caused our investigators to believe that the two brothers were not responsible for the shooting. As soon as investigators received this contradictory evidence and were sufficiently satisfied with its reliability, they notified the Alberta Crown Prosecution Service, which led to the charges being stayed today in court.
We recognize that these charges will have impacted these two young men, their family and the community in very significant ways, and for that we apologize unreservedly.
As your police service, we have a responsibility to ensure public safety in Calgary and to hold offenders to account – most particularly in dangerous and deadly situations such as this one. At the same time, we have a responsibility to ensure that no one enters the criminal justice system who should not rightly be there.
We have reached out to the community and family of these brothers to offer supports and provide additional answers.
Our Service will arrange for an independent review, which will examine the circumstances that led to the arrest and charges.
As this investigation remains ongoing, we are committed to bringing justice to the family of the deceased, as well as those injured in this brazen shooting.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6976345.1722029432!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpg)
BREAKING Celine Dion performs at the 2024 Paris Olympics
Beloved Canadian icon Celine Dion made her much-anticipated appearance during the closing of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games opening ceremony.
Jasper wildfire: 'Several weeks' before Jasper can return, premier says
Premier Danielle Smith said Friday afternoon in Hinton while weather conditions are cooler, the Jasper fire is still considered out of control and that Jasper residents can expect to be away from their homes "for several weeks."
'He was just gone': Police ramp up search for vulnerable 3-year-old boy in Mississauga, Ont.
Police in Mississauga are conducting a full-scale search of the city’s biggest park for a non-verbal toddler who went missing Thursday evening. Sgt. Jennifer Trimble told reporters Friday morning that there has been no trace of three-year-old Zaid Abdullah since 6:20 p.m., when he was last seen with his parents in Erindale Park, near Dundas Street West and Mississauga Road.
Driver charged after flashing high beams at approaching police
Orillia OPP arrested and charged a driver with impaired driving after flashing their high beams.
Canada's Christine Sinclair: 'We were never shown drone footage'
Canada soccer great Christine Sinclair said on Friday national team players were never shown drone footage during the more than two decades she was on the team, following a spying scandal that cast a shadow over the Canadians at the Paris Games.
Winnipeg senior's account overdrawn $146,000 for water bill
A Winnipeg senior is getting soaked with a six figure water bill.
Irish museum pulls Sinead O'Connor waxwork after just one day due to backlash
An Irish museum will withdraw a waxwork of singer-songwriter Sinéad O’Connor just one day after installing it, following a backlash from her family and the public, it told CNN in a statement on Friday.
At least 4 buildings burned at Jasper Park Lodge, others damaged: Fairmont memo
The Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge said Thursday afternoon most of its structures are 'standing and intact,' including its iconic main lodge.
She couldn't stop thinking about the guy she met at the Athens Olympics. Then a message from him changed her life
Omaira Gill grew up counting down the days to each Olympic Games. She wasn’t especially sporty, so she ruled out the prospect of competing pretty early on. But she still harboured Olympic dreams – even just spectating would do.