Police investigating arson at Calgary residential school memorial
Calgary police are investigating an arson that took place at the City Hall residential school memorial Tuesday night.
Just before 11:30 p.m., City Hall security officers noticed a man on CCTV who appeared to attempt to light the memorial on fire before fleeing.
Security officers were able to quickly extinguish the fire, but several pairs of shoes and other objects were heavily damaged.
The memorial was started in June as a tribute to the lives lost at Canada's residential school system, following the discovery of 215 unmarked graves outside the location of a former residential school in Kamloops, B.C., and 751 unmarked graves outside a former residential school in Cowessess First Nation in Saskatchewan.
Investigators released CCTV stills of the suspect Wednesday. He's described as having short hair, wearing a black baseball hat, black backpack, blue jeans, white-soled shoes and a plaid shirt.
CCTV capture of the suspect who allegedly set the residential school memorial on fire Aug. 3.
Investigators are being assisted by the hate crimes and extremism unit in an effort to determine the motivation behind the fire.
Police investigators say they are aware of tensions in the community around discoveries made at residential schools, and recent arsons and vandalism incidents at various churches.
A tribute to the lives lost to the residential school system has been erected on the steps outside Calgary city hall.
Anyone with information about this case is asked to contact the police on the non-emergency line at 403-266-1234. Anonymous tipsters can contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477, online or by using the P3 Tips app available at Apple or the Google Play Store.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'They needed people inside Air Canada:' Police announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
Customers disappointed after email listing $60K Tim Hortons prize sent in error
Several Tim Horton’s customers are feeling great disappointment after being told by the company that an email stating they won a boat worth nearly $60,000 was sent in error.
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter banned from NBA
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter has been handed a lifetime ban from The National Basketball Association (NBA) following an investigation which found he disclosed confidential information to sports bettors, the league says.
House admonishes ArriveCan contractor in rare parliamentary show of power
MPs enacted an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power on Wednesday, summonsing an ArriveCan contractor to appear before the House of Commons where he was admonished publicly and forced to provide answers to the questions MPs said he'd previously evaded.
Woman who pressured boyfriend to kill his ex in 2000s granted absences from prison
A woman who pressured her boyfriend into killing his teenage ex more than a decade ago will be allowed to leave prison for weeks at a time.
Attempt to have murder charge quashed against alleged serial killer dismissed by judge
A motion filed by the man accused of killing four Indigenous women in Winnipeg to have one of those murder charges quashed has been dismissed by the judge – weeks before the start of his trial.
Government proposes new policy for federally regulated employees to disconnect from work
In their 2024 budget, the federal government wants to amend the Canada Labour Code, so employers in federally regulated sectors will eliminate work-related communication with employees outside of scheduled hours. If implemented, this would affect roughly 500,000 employees across the country.
Earthquake jolts southern Japan
An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.4 hit southern Japan late on Wednesday, said the Japan Meteorological Agency, without issuing a tsunami warning.