上週日，卡爾加里警方在一起人質挾持事件中，擊斃了一名手持武器與警方對峙的歹徒。隨後警方對案件進行了深入的調查。在對歹徒的居住地進行仔細搜查後，警方在其寓所發現了一個包括來復槍、炸藥等違禁槍支在內的私藏武器庫，武器種類之全，數量之多，令人咂舌。

週日被擊斃的歹徒名叫Vanhouwe，今年49歲，在一家雜貨店工作。有過諸多犯罪前科，曾因攜帶毒品被判20個月監禁，因對公共安全構成威脅而被列入警方24小時監督的名單，並且不允許其攜帶及擁有槍支和爆炸性物品。所以在其寓所發現的武器庫引起了警方的高度重視，警方將徹查這批武器的來龍去脈，以確保沒有潛在的安全隱患。

另外，ASIRT(阿爾伯塔獨立調查局)也開始了針對挾持事件中警方開槍詳細情況的調查。這已經是卡爾加里今年內發生的第二起警員執勤過程中開槍擊斃歹徒的事件。調查將廣泛採證，包括各種官方和非官方的錄像帶，目擊證人聞訊以及案件當事人19歲的人質的口供問訊。

目前，警方初步掌握的線索證明，案件發生時Vanhouwe的舉止十分怪異，情緒也十分不穩定。挾持一名人質，在6米左右的距離與警方對峙。警方共發射三槍，但並不確定是否都打中歹徒。警方將中彈歹徒隨即送往醫院，之後因救治無效在2：34分宣佈死亡。

CALGARY – A man armed with a loaded sawed-off shotgun who held Calgary police in a standoff before he was shot and killed early Sunday morning had earlier been ruled not a danger to the public by a judge who gave him a conditional sentence on drug charges.

Melvin Donald Vanhouwe, 49, had been handed the 20-month sentence – 10 months of which he served under 24-hour house arrest – after he was convicted of cocaine trafficking in 2003, according to court documents obtained by the Calgary Herald. A judge also slapped him with a 10-year prohibition from owning firearms, ammunition and explosive substances.

But, as new details of the deadly standoff emerged Monday, police also revealed they seized ammunition and 13 long guns – including a loaded rifle – as well as various explosives, including devices designed to stun through loud noises, from Vanhouwe’s rented basement suite on Calgary’s Sabrina Bay S.W.

Insp. Guy Slater of the Calgary police major-crimes section said the next step is to determine where the guns came from and to whom they belonged.

What motivated Vanhouwe to take his neighbour hostage has yet to be determined, and it remains unclear what happened before police showed up at the home at 12:50 a.m. local time Sunday.

Vanhouwe, who was reportedly intoxicated and acting bizarrely, had been apparently holding a 19-year-old neighbour hostage when police patrol units arrived, followed by members of the tactical team.

After about an hour, police managed to rescue the teen and get him to safety.

That left the gunman directly facing two officers about six metres away with nothing between them, said Clifton Purvis, head of the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT).

Vanhouwe raised his 12-gauge, sawed-off, pump action shotgun – which had been loaded with two live rounds – pointed it at the two officers, and the tactical team member fired three shots from his C-8 assault rifle.

The gunman was rushed to hospital, but was pronounced dead at 2:34 a.m. from his injuries.

Purvis could not say if all three shots hit Vanhouwe.

Vanhouwe was born in Saskatoon and has two brothers. He had a daughter, but family relations are strained, relatives say.

Police said he had been a Calgary resident for a number of years.

“People don’t know much about his life because he wasn’t around," said Liz Vanhouwe, who is divorced from the man’s uncle.

Vanhouwe’s brother Monte, who lives in Saskatoon, said he was “not interested" in talking about his brother when contacted by a reporter.

Despite Vanhouwe’s troubled past and run-ins with police, news of his death has left relatives bewildered.

“I’m just shaking," said Liz.

Using details from civilian and police witnesses, Purvis said investigators are still trying to put together a picture of what happened.

“Once we’ve put all those pieces together, we should have a fairly good idea of what happened," he said.

Investigators have obtained surveillance video footage from public and private cameras and are interviewing witnesses.

Meanwhile, the police officer who fired the shots is a 27-year veteran with the force with more than a decade of experience on the tactical team. As per the service’s protocol, he has been put on administrative duties.

Purvis said the goal of his team’s investigation is to determine whether the officer’s actions were justified.

“Part of the analysis will be determining what the police officer who shot felt his level of threat was at the time," he said, adding they will then look at the facts to see if that belief was “reasonable."

This is the first time a member of the Calgary police tactical team has been the subject of an ASIRT investigation, though the body has examined incidents involving other tactical teams in the province.

It’s the second time this year, however, that ASIRT has been called to examine a fatal shooting at the hands of a Calgary police officer.

In March, officers fatally wounded Travis Douglas Oakes after he and another man drove a stolen car into a 24-hour car wash. Police had been following the stolen car and were trying to arrest the men when shots were fired by one of the officers.

Calgary Herald