The Calgary Police are thanking the public for their help in the quick arrest of a person in the city’s first homicide of 2009.
Police were called to an altercation outside Coyote’s Bar and Grill in a strip mall on Whitefield Drive and 36 St NE around 1:30 a.m. New Year’s Day. Upon arrival, three patients were found with varying injuries. All three were transported to hospital, and one later succumbed to their injuries.
Police are in the process of notifying next of kin, but say they believe the victim was new to Canada and that they haven’t been able to locate any family members.
Northwind Hart, 32, of no fixed address, is charged with second-degree murder. Hart is scheduled to appear in Calgary Provincial Court on January 14, 2009.
Another man connected to the altercation is still in police custody and charges are being considered.
Public cooperation was crucial in leading to an arrest, according to a police release.
City cops, however, have few details in relation to a separate New Year’s Day shooting that left three people dead outside a southeast Calgary Vietnamese eatery.
Deputy Chief Murray Stooke, Staff Sgt. Gord Eiriksson of the Organized Crime Operations Centre, and Staff Sgt. Patty McCallum of the Homicide Unit are addressing media today in regards to the incident.
