Man in custody, charges pending after suspicious death of father in southeast Calgary

A domestic homicide has shaken a southeast Calgary community, and charges are pending after a son allegedly killed his father.

One man is in custody, awaiting charges as police investigate the suspicious death of his father in the southeast Calgary community of Deer Ridge.

Reports of a disturbance brought officers to a home in the 200 block of Deer Park Place S.E. around 10 p.m. on Sunday.

They found a man in his 70s, who was suffering from “severe injuries.”

He was taken to hospital, where he later died.

Around 2 a.m. on Monday, officers arrested a man in his 30s in the 100 block of 9th Avenue S.W.

He remains in custody, and police say charges are pending.

An autopsy is expected to be completed later this week.

Police say Sunday’s incident stemmed from a domestic dispute.

Staff Sgt. Mark Rahn with the homicide unit says it’s a father and son involved.

“The father is deceased,” Rahn said.

“We have not been there before in relation to domestic-related incidents between the father and son.

“(The son) has a minor history with police, but is certainly not well-known to us.”

Rahn says police recovered a knife.

“This is an isolated incident that occurred in the home and there is no need for people in the community to feel unsafe,” Rahn said.

Area resident Jaime Fettig was surprised by the police presence seen in the neighbourhood.

“Six police cars came racing down the block (and) police had the dogs out ... searching the streets, looking for someone,” Fettig told CTV News.

Fettig says it’s “a close-knit community.”

“On this block in particular, we are close with our neighbours—we look out for each other,” Fettig said.

Fettig says it’s “devastating” that this happened to someone in the neighbourhood.

“My heart goes out to the family,” Fettig said.

Rahn says the incident is “very terrible for the family.”

“At this time of year, it’s incredibly horrible and awful for this family,” Rahn said.

Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call police at 403-266-1234 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.