Calgary police say they have arrested a man after he broke into the city’s municipal building and set several fires.
Officers were called around 4 a.m. Tuesday to reports of a man brandishing a weapon and setting fire to several parts of the building, according to a release.
Police said they believe he gained access to the building by breaking the glass on the outside of the building while carrying a large sharp weapon.
“Once inside, he began setting fires throughout the building while becoming increasingly agitated and aggressive,” the release said.
Police said a man was taken into custody and taken to hospital after “numerous attempts to calm him down”.
The man is a client of the police and crisis team, the release said, adding that “he is now receiving the care he needs.”
“While in many cases intervention and coordination through our partnership has been successful in preventing a mental health crisis from becoming a police issue, unfortunately there are cases that are violent in nature and require an adequate police response,” said Supt. Asif Rashid.
As of 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, the building remained closed to the public.
Water damage in the building
The sprinkler system inside the building activated, causing water damage to the third floor, according to a city news release.
The city says some services will be temporarily relocated due to the water damage. The admissions, cashiering and taxation desks will be temporarily located on the third floor of the Central Library.
Calgary City Hall was closed to the public on Tuesday. (Rebecca Kelly/CBC)
The Planning and Development Office will be relocated to the main floor of the Whitehorn Multi-Service Center in northeast Calgary. However, those services are not expected to operate until Thursday, the new release said.
Security issues
At a news conference Tuesday, Mayor Jyoti Gondek said City Hall faces the same safety concerns as other downtown Calgary businesses.
“As a municipal building, we need to be as accessible as possible to citizens,” she said.
“But at the same time, what we’re seeing is that our security staff is sometimes put on high alert because we’re such an accessible building.”
Gondek said what’s most needed to prevent security issues like this is more funding for mental health from the provincial government.
“We need help. We need our provincial partners to really step up and give us the mental health support, the health care support that we need.”
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