Heated family argument ends in double shooting
Man charged with killing wife after wounded daughter calls 911
CALGARY City police believe a lengthy argument over family problems turned deadly when shots rang out in a northeast home Tuesday morning, killing a woman and wounding her teenage daughter.
Hien Tuan Lam, 43, is now charged with first-degree murder in the death of his common-law wife, 41-year-old Hue Ngoc Nguyen, and with the attempted murder of his daughter, whose name has not been released. He’s due in court Thursday.
“It’s our belief that over the period of the day, there was significant tension in the home, which led to a prolonged argument, which ultimately led to a physical confrontation between the three involved persons, which led to the discharging of the firearm,” said Insp. Don Coleman with the Calgary Police Service’s major crimes section.
“From statements, it appears both victims were targeted as a result of the ongoing argument.”
Police were called to the community of Pineridge around 12:15 a.m. after receiving 911 calls from the wounded teen and from neighbours, with reports of multiple shots fired inside the residence.
When they arrived, they found Nguyen dead in the home and her daughter suffering from a non-lifethreatening gunshot wound. The teen was taken to hospital, where she remains in recovery.
“She’s doing remarkably well from what I can tell since the incident,” Coleman said. “She’s a very courageous young lady.”
About 20 minutes later, a patrol officer spotted a black pickup truck matching the description of the vehicle used by the suspect to flee the scene.
Police said the man fired a single shot into the air from the vehicle before surrendering without further incident. Officers found his two younger children, an 11-yearold girl and a three-year-old boy, in the back seat of the truck. Both were unharmed.
Investigators are working to determine how Lam, who was under a court order not to possess firearms, obtained the weapon, which was recovered by police from the scene.
All five family members lived at the home and it’s believed the couple had been together “for an extended period of time,” Coleman said.
He said police hadn’t been called to the home in the past, but it’s believed there was some history of domestic violence that had gone unreported, based on interviews with family members.
The younger children are currently staying with relatives.
Lam was previously known to police. In 2013, he was among a group of six people charged with drugtrafficking offences after Mounties raided five homes and discovered marijuana grow operations on the Morley reserve west of Calgary.
Lam was charged with producing and possession for the purpose of trafficking in the case.
At the time, he was under a previous court order not to possess firearms and, after the 2013 incident, faced additional charges of possessing a firearm while prohibited and careless storage of a firearm.
Staff Sgt. Rob Davidson with the domestic conflict unit said it’s unusual for domestic conflicts to escalate to deadly violence.
“The vast majority of these incidents, violence is occurring isolated in the home, not reported, and it’s in those cases we really want victims, families, friends, co-workers, someone to reach out and talk to us, talk to a community support agency, talk to somebody so we can get in there and intervene before it escalates to this level of violence, Davidson said.