A crowd made its way from the Calgary Courts Centre to the steps of City Hall and back to honour the life of a man who was fatally shot by police in a northeast motel room and question the actions of the responding officers.
On March 16, 2015, officers and EMS members responded to the Super 8 motel in the 3000 block of Barlow Trail N.E. for a check on welfare call after a motel guest failed to checkout.
According to police, the lone occupant of the room, 27-year-old Anthony Heffernan, was located in distress. In an attempt to subdue the man, officers fired an electroshock weapon which proved ineffective. In a final attempt to control Heffernan, a CPS member discharged his firearm. The shots proved fatal.
Family members of Heffernan say the 27-year-old struggled with addiction but was in the process of recovery and making positive steps, and the actions of police, which claimed Heffernan’s life, are inexcusable
According to organizers, Saturday’s march protested ‘the brutal and fatal actions that officers choose to take when dealing with situations such as this one’.
