Highway shooting of German tourist tied to road rage
60-year-old driving with family near Morley now clinging to life
A German tourist driving to Banff National Park with his family was shot in the head in a suspected road rage incident west of Calgary.
Sgt. Tom Kalis said Mounties from Cochrane were called around 12 p.m. Thursday for reports of a shooting near the rodeo grounds outside Morley along Highway 1A.
It’s possible the incident is related to road rage, police said.
“What we do know is that we had a 60-year-old male . . . looks like he was driving with his family,” Kalis said.
A STARS spokesman confirmed an air ambulance was dispatched to the area just after 12 p.m. and Kalis said the man has been taken to hospital in Calgary.
EMS officials said the patient was in critical condition at the time.
Kalis said the vehicle veered off the road after the shooting and the three other occupants suffered minor injuries.
The black Dodge Durango went through a barbed-wire fence and travelled several hundred metres before coming to rest in a stand of trees.
Late Thursday afternoon, RCMP officers were seen scouring the vehicle and surrounding area for clues and collecting evidence.
Kalis said occupants in the car heard a “pop” and police have found “evidence of a gunshot” though the driver’s-side window of the vehicle.
“The driver has a serious, penetrating wound to the skull,” he said.
The victim was to undergo surgery Thursday afternoon.
Blockades were set up roughly six kilometres east and west of the shooting scene. An RCMP vehicle was seen driving toward the area at a high rate of speed around 2 p.m.
Officers were combing the side of Highway 1A just west of the Goodstoney Rodeo Centre on Thursday afternoon, where multiple RCMP vehicles had the road blocked off.
Police are looking for witnesses to the incident.
“There was a small black car that was being driven by a white male . . . around the Dodge Durango at the time the gunshot would have occurred,” Kalis told CBC News.
“So we’re seeking the public’s help to establish whether that . . . is correct.”
Kalis noted the man driving the black car had long, dark hair.
“This is not a high pedestrian traffic area but there are motorists who may have seen something around that time, immediately before or after the incident.
“I don’t want to alarm the public. This appears to be a singular incident … and fortunately in Canada a very uncommon incident.”
Kalis could not confirm how long the family has been in the country.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Cochrane RCMP at 403-851-8000.
This is not a high pedestrian traffic area but there are motorists who may have seen something.