One man was killed and another was taken to hospital in connection to an incident at a home in the southeast community of Sundance on Tuesday morning.
Emergency crews were called to the 0-100 block of Sunmount Crescent SE at about 11:00 a.m. for reports of a shooting.
Police received a call from inside a residence and say screaming could be heard before the call was disconnected.
When officers arrived, they found an injured man outside the home.
“Our officers were dispatched along with EMS. When they got to the house they found a man in his 20s on the front lawn with serious head injuries," said Police Chief Roger Chaffin.
They were then confronted in the detached garage of the home by a second man.
"While HAWCS was flying overhead, patrol officers heard activity in the detached garage behind the house. Two patrol officers moved around to the garage and entered it. Inside they found a vehicle running with a hose attached. Officers were confronted by a man who was outside that vehicle, within the garage. At that time we had information that led the officers to believe the man was a suspect in the attack on the 20 year old,” said Chaffin.
Chaffin says officers issued directions to the man but he advanced towards them with an edged weapon.
“One officer, an eight year member of the service, fired his service pistol. Our officers and EMS attempted to provide emergency medical assistance to the 76-year-old man however, he was declared deceased by EMS a short time later,” he said.
The injured man, who was found outside, was taken to hospital in non-life threatening condition.
Police cordoned off a large part of the street to investigate and neighbours say there appeared to be an altercation at the home before police arrived.
“I phoned my neighbour who lives right across the street and she said that she had just witnessed the grandson running out, all bloodied and yelling that his grandfather had just tried to, had just hit him with a hammer,” said one lady.
Chaffin says incidents like this do affect the membership and can be hard on front-line officers.
“In situations like this, we ask the community and the service asks our members to put themselves in harm’s way and when it happens we want our members to feel safe and feel supported when they go through this and in this circumstance, I believe our officers did as well as they could to resolve the situations.”
The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team has been called in to investigate.