Incident on Calgary's Reconciliation Bridge comes to safe resolution
Nearly 20 hours after a man climbed and remained perched on top of the Reconciliation Bridge in downtown Calgary, the situation came to a peaceful resolution.
Just before 6 p.m. Thursday, police say after hours of negotiation and with the help of the Calgary Fire Department, officers were able to successfully negotiate with the man.
He was voluntarily taken down to safety.
He was then escorted by police to a waiting ambulance and transported to hospital.
Police were first called to the Reconciliation Bridge around 10:30 p.m. Wednesday.
The Fourth and Fifth Avenue fly overs – one of the main arteries into the downtown core – were shut down for a police command centre on the bridge.
By 10 a.m., the Fifth Avenue fly over reopened, but drivers were still being told to try alternate routes to get into the downtown core until the situation was fully resolved.
EMS as well as the Calgary Fire Department were also at the scene.
The shutdowns impacted thousands of drivers.
Traffic was bumper-to-bumper on Edmonton Trail, there were major slowdowns along sections of Memorial Drive and buses were forced to detour their routes.
"It's a big mess, you know? They've got it all blocked off and people coming this way, they have to turn around and find different routes to get in and out of here," said witness John Harris.
"I noticed that both Edmonton Trail and Centre Street were backed up kind of all the way to my house in Renfrew, so (I) quickly turned my car around, hopped on my bike and went downtown that way," said Phillip Meintzer.
Calgary police closed Reconciliation Bridge, the Fourth Avenue flyover and the Fifth Avenue flyover on Thursday, March 28, 2024.
The remaining flyover was reopened after the man was down.
"We recognize that this incident significantly impacted access for many Calgarians commuting into the downtown area for work, accessing their homes and local businesses, while also causing several delays in the surrounding areas," police said in a release issued Thursday evening.
"We appreciate the public's patience as emergency crews worked tirelessly to ensure the safety of all involved.
"We would also like to thank our partners at the Calgary Fire Department, the City of Calgary, and Alberta Health Services for aiding us in bringing a safe resolution to this incident."
Calgary police say the man involved had suffered a mental-health crisis when he climbed the bridge.
The investigation is ongoing and police say charges may be pending.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Feds 'not interested' in investing in LNG facilities: energy minister
Energy and Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson says the federal government is 'not interested' in subsidizing future liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects, including the electrification of projects currently in the works.
Chants of 'shame on you' greet guests arriving for the annual White House correspondents' dinner
An election-year roast of U.S. President Joe Biden before journalists, celebrities and politicians at the annual White House correspondents' dinner Saturday.
Aerial photos show wide devastation left by tornado in China's Guangzhou
Aerial photos posted by Chinese state media on Sunday showed the wide devastation of a part of the southern city of Guangzhou after a tornado swept through the day before, killing five people, injuring dozens others and damaging over a hundred buildings.
Global measles cases nearly doubled in one year, researchers say
The number of measles cases around the world nearly doubled from 2022 to 2023, researchers say, presenting a challenge to efforts to achieve and maintain elimination status in many countries.
Fair share: the right office solution can take finding the right partner
The rise of remote and hybrid work has made it harder to justify a full office, so more are leaning on co-working spaces that they share with many others for convenience and cost savings. The choice, however, comes at the expense of privacy and control.
A top Qatari official urges Israel and Hamas to do more to reach a ceasefire deal
A senior Qatari official has urged both Israel and Hamas to show "more commitment and more seriousness" in ceasefire negotiations in interviews with Israeli media, as pressure builds on both sides to move toward a deal that would set Israeli hostages free and bring potential respite in the nearly seven-month-long war in Gaza.
What Trudeau's podcast appearances say about the Liberals' next ballot box question
Trudeau recently appeared on four podcasts as he travels the country talking up the Liberals' latest budget, which he's pitching as a plan to inject more economic fairness into society for those under 40 — a cohort that has kept Trudeau in power since 2015 but is increasingly turning to Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre.
Russian drones set a hotel ablaze in a Ukrainian Black Sea city
Russian drones early Sunday struck the Black Sea city of Mykolaiv, setting a hotel ablaze and damaging energy infrastructure, the local Ukrainian governor reported, while ammunition shortages continued to hobble Kyiv's troops in the more than two-year-old war.
A munitions explosion at a Cambodian army base kills 20 soldiers, but its cause is unclear
Security was tight around a military base in southwestern Cambodia on Sunday, a day after a huge explosion there killed 20 soldiers, wounded others and damaged nearby houses.