Latest news with #HAWCS


CTV News
01-08-2025
- CTV News
‘Looking over us': Calgary police reflect on Rick Sonnenberg, 30 years of HAWCS
This July marks three decades of the Calgary Police Service's HAWCS air support unit, largely brought about through the vision and effort of the sister of a young police officer who was killed in the line of duty. (Image by Damien Wood / CTV Calgary)


CTV News
30-07-2025
- CTV News
Suspect in custody after four-car crash involving stolen vehicle: Calgary police
Emergency crews respond to a crash in the intersection of 14 Street and 75 Avenue S.W. at 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday, July 30, 2025. Calgary police say five people were injured in a crash involving a stolen vehicle near Rockyview General Hospital on Wednesday. The collision – which involved four vehicles in total – happened in the intersection of 14 Street and 75 Avenue S.W. at 11:30 a.m. Staff Sgt. Mike Anderson says the crash happened after an officer attempted to stop a suspicious vehicle with a stolen license plate in the community of Bowness. 'The vehicle failed to stop, proceeding through a red light at high speeds,' he said. 'Our units did not pursue, they disengaged.' Anderson says a short time later, officers in a HAWCS helicopter were able to locate the vehicle travelling on Crowchild Trail. 'They followed that vehicle as it proceeded from Crowchild to Glenmore [Trail] to southbound 14 Street.' Anderson said the vehicle ran a red light at the intersection with 75 Avenue, hitting three vehicles. Officers took one person into custody. Five people were injured, he said. Calgary crash involving stolen vehicle sees suspect arrested Emergency crews respond to a crash in the intersection of 14 Street and 75 Avenue S.W. at 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday, July 30, 2025. The collision caused the temporary closure of northbound 14 Street S.W. at Heritage Drive S.W., while southbound 14 Street S.W. was down to one lane. The roads reopened fully shortly before 1:30 p.m. Anyone with dash-cam footage of the collision or information about it is asked to call police at 403-266-1234. Tips can also be submitted anonymously through Crime Stoppers.


Calgary Herald
19-06-2025
- Calgary Herald
Martin: Questions arise in dramatic crash that cost young girl her life
Article content One can't help but wonder what in the world could have been going through Calgarian Duane Nepoose's mind as he raced through the southern portion of the city six months ago in a stolen van. Article content With not a police cruiser in sight, Nepoose could have at any time pulled over and fled the stolen vehicle on foot. Article content Article content He also could have slowed down to at or near the speed limit and obeyed traffic signals as there were no flashing lights behind him in hot pursuit. Article content Article content The only police present anywhere nearby was the HAWCS helicopter hovering above him high in the sky and if that was what Nepoose was fleeing he was doomed to get caught. Article content Article content Even the officer providing the narration lost his composure slightly as Nepoose rammed into Amanda Reitmeier's compact hatchback, causing a chain reaction involving five vehicles in total. Article content 'Oh, zero-one, zeros-one. We're gonna need EMS at Southland and Macleod. Massive zero-one,' the officer said, his voice wavering somewhat as he referred to the police code of 10-01 for an injury accident. Article content Article content The impact left Reitmeier and her 12-year-old daughter, Madison Desjardins, seriously injured. More tragic though, it also took the life of her nine-year-old daughter, Victoria Desjardins. Article content Article content Article content The video was played in a Calgary courtroom earlier this month after Nepoose pleaded guilty to multiple charges, including dangerous driving causing the young girl's death. Article content His sentencing hearing is set for September. Article content The facts placed on the record before Justice Indra Maharaj and read in by Crown prosecutor Todd Buziak and agreed to by the offender and his lawyers, Rebecca Snukal and Sam Taylor, did not do justice to the horrific conduct of Nepoose on that day. Article content But the HAWCS video, as well as body-worn camera footage from one of the first officers on the scene, which not only captured Nepoose's arrest but also the frantic but ultimately futile attempts to save the little girl's life, certainly did.


Calgary Herald
06-06-2025
- Calgary Herald
Driver pleads guilty in horrific Boxing Day crash that killed nine-year-old girl
Shocking video was played in a Calgary courtroom Friday showing a stolen, speeding van run a red light and crash into several vehicles, and the aftermath in which emergency workers frantically tried to save the life of a nine-year-old girl. Article content Members of Victoria Desjardins' family cried and moaned in pain as video showing the lifeless girl being removed from her mother's car, where police and fire officials attempted to get a pulse while performing CPR. Article content Article content Article content Nepoose also admitted causing bodily harm to the girl's mother and older sister, as well as another motorist while speeding through a red light on Macleod Trail. Article content According to the statement of agreed facts read in by Buziak and signed by defence lawyers Sam Taylor and Rebecca Snukal, as well as their client, Nepoose was fleeing from police after robbing a Millrise pharmacy and stealing the owner's Dodge Caravan. Article content Article content Buziak said officers initially tried to make a traffic stop of the stolen vehicle around 9:41 a.m., but Nepoose sped off. Article content The HAWCS police helicopter then tracked the vehicle as it drove on several major roadways in southwest Calgary, at one time accelerating to approximately 170 km/h, the prosecutor said. Article content Article content It eventually ended up on eastbound Stoney Trail before heading northbound on Macleod. Article content 'The vehicle continued traveling northbound on Macleod Trail travelling through the red lights at the intersections of 109th Avenue and also 99th Avenue before entering the intersection of Southland Drive against the red light,' Buziak said. Article content Nepoose struck two vehicles travelling westbound on Southland Drive, including a silver Pontiac Vibe being driven by Victoria's mother, Amanda Reitmeier. Article content 'A video recording of the collision was recorded by a dash camera of a vehicle situated in the eastbound lane of Southland Driver,' Buziak said. Article content Reitmeier and her two daughters, Madison Desjardins, 12, and Victoria, were seriously injured, the prosecutor told court. Article content


Global News
06-06-2025
- Global News
Calgary Police shoot man after brandishing possible handgun
One man is in hospital after being shot by a Calgary Police officer early Friday morning in the Manchester Industrial area. CPS says officers were patrolling along Deerfoot Trail and 17th Avenue southeast around 12:15 a.m. when they came across a passenger in a vehicle who brandished what appeared to be a handgun. Officers called for more resources including HAWCS helicopter and a canine unit, and conducted a traffic stop in the 600 block of 25 Avenue southeast. The white SUV was stopped in the westbound shoulder with its flashers on the windows rolled down. Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy Police say one man took off from the traffic stop and was shot by a single officer. He was taken to hospital in life-threatening condition but has since been upgraded to what a press release from CPS termed 'life-altering, but stable.' Patrol units were seen holding a second scene a block south of the traffic stop near 26th Avenue southeast with at least three shell casings on ground. Story continues below advertisement Two others were taken into custody without incident and no officers were injured. As with all police shootings in the province, the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team has been called in to investigate.