An altercation at a house party in the Rosscarrock area that carried out onto the street left a man dead on Tuesday evening and police have identified him as 26-year-old Darby Chase Shade of Calgary.
Police were called to a home in the 1100 block of 37 Street S.W. at about 10:30 p.m. and found a man’s body near an entrance on the west side of Westbrook Mall.
A fight inside the residence spilled out onto the street and police say bear spray was deployed during the incident.
A number of people were taken into custody from the scene for questioning.
On Wednesday, photos of Christian Whitebear and Matthew Crane-Watchmaker were released and police say they are wanted on warrants and may have information about what happened.
The victim goes by the name Darby Soop and his family says he had a promising career in mixed martial arts and that he had a big heart and positive attitude.
Eric Tailfeathers was with the victim in the hours before his death and told CTV News that he barely escaped the ordeal with his own life.
“They grabbed their weapons in their backpack, which was a machete, baton and bear mace, and chased us out of the home, down the street. They caught Darby outside by Westbrook Mall. I managed to get away because the gym was open late at night, thank God, and I called the cops because I was scared for my life,” he said.
Tailfeathers says he and Soop were invited to hang out at the home when two males showed up. He says they didn’t know them and that the attack on Soop was unprovoked.
“I just had a bad feeling from the start, they got there and they attacked Darby for no reason really. He wasn’t causing no problems and they started attacking him,” he said. “Darby, he didn’t deserve this. He was like a care bear. He cared for all his friends and family, everyone cared for him. He was loved by so many people and I hope they don’t get away with this.”
Grace Heavyrunner, Eric’s mother, says Darby was her son’s best friend and that she felt comfortable with him.
“He was very nice. He told me not to worry about my son because he said they were good friends and they’re both from the Blood Reserve, you know, everyone’s very close, everybody takes care of each other and he made me feel very confident and secure, when I first met him, and he was very outgoing, very nice, nice person. I felt comfortable with him right away and he told me not to worry about anything that he’s always going to be there for my son so they were best friends ever since.”
Tailfeathers says he is traumatized by the experience and still can’t believe his friend is gone.
“It’s been very traumatic. Feels like something out of a scary movie. Feels like a bad dream that I’m hoping to wake up from but I’m not and it’s just something I have to deal with,” he said. “I was talking to the detective and he told me a man died on the scene last night and I just couldn’t believe it because Darby was a strong guy. He was a MMA fighter and I just didn’t believe those words.”
Police are treating the death as a homicide and say Soop died as a result of a stabbing.
Anyone with information about the case is asked to contact the police non-emergency number, 403-266-1234, or Crime Stoppers.
TALK: 1-800-222-8477
TYPE: www.calgarycrimestoppers.org
