2-year-old girl fatally injured in southeast Calgary neighbourhood
Police are investigating after a two-year-old girl died suddenly during Thursday’s early morning hours.
Emergency crews were called to a home on Bannister Manor S.E., in the community of Midnapore, shortly after 2 a.m.
Police confirmed the girl and her mother were taken to the Alberta Children's Hospital. The child later died.
EMS confirmed a paramedic response unit arrived without delay, but a police holdback was in place for a time to ensure the scene was safe. Treatment of a “toddler-aged girl” in medical distress began immediately and continued under the care of an EMS crew that arrived minutes later.
A woman who lives nearby told CTV News she was awoken by the sound of her neighbour screaming outside.
"At the time, she was screaming, 'Why hasn't the ambulance come yet? It's been over 10 minutes,'" said the neighbour, who did not provide her name. "She was just frantically panicking, like, 'She's not breathing! She's not breathing! Why hasn't anyone come yet?'"
EMS said there was no significant delay on the call.
The neighbour said approximately six police vehicles and an ambulance arrived and that after approximately 30 minutes inside the home, the child was brought out on a stretcher with EMS performing chest compressions on her.
According to the neighbour, the child was known to ride her tricycle in the townhouse complex.
"I honestly don't see those neighbours much. They're not really the out-and-about type,” the neighbour said.
“They don't really mingle with us. They're pretty new still. I don't know much of them."
Officers removed a pickup truck from the scene that neighbours say they saw driving around the time the 911 call was made.
Homicide detectives spent much of the day in the neighbourhood, gathering statements.
Police say based on initial information, the girl's death is being treated as suspicious and that detectives are conducting interviews to better understand what happened to what appeared to be a healthy child.
Homicide detectives investigate every time a child dies, even when it appears that it was an accident or medical emergency, so while police are treating this incident as suspicious, that could change.
An autopsy was scheduled for Friday.
With files from CTV's Austin Lee, Bill Macfarlane and Damien Wood
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
'I was scared': Ontario man's car repossessed after missing two repair loan payments
An Ontario man who took out a loan to pay for auto repairs said his car was repossessed after he missed two payments.
First court appearance for boy and girl charged in death of Halifax 16-year-old
A girl and a boy, both 14 years old, made their first appearance today in a Halifax courtroom, where they each face a second-degree murder charge in the stabbing death of a 16-year-old high school student.