The Calgary Police Service ended a hunt for an armed man Monday in connection with the death of a woman and her father, as the slayings left two northwest communities in shock.
The two dead are believed to be the suspect’s wife and her father, said police, who found the alleged killer’s body northwest of Calgary late Monday afternoon.
Hours earlier, city police issued an emergency alert Monday afternoon warning of a dangerous person in possession of a firearm in the Calgary region.
Police said they were seeking Benedict Kaminski, 38, who had been driving a black Nissan Pathfinder with Alberta licence plate CLN 5276.
They said at 3:40 p.m., police received information from the public about a vehicle parked in the Water Valley area northwest of Calgary.
“Upon arrival, police located the suspect near his vehicle deceased,” police said in a press release issued just before 5 p.m.
Residents had been asked to not open the door to strangers, to report any sightings to 911 and to refrain from sharing details of police operations on social media.
Victims found dead Sunday night
Around 9:30 p.m. on Sunday, officers responded to reports of a person in medical distress at a home in the 0 to 100 block of Kincora Grove N.W. Upon arrival, police discovered a man in his 70s deceased, police said in a Monday morning news release.
As the investigation continued, police came upon a second victim, a woman in her 30s, after concerns were raised by family members. The woman, believed to be the deceased man’s daughter and the suspect’s wife, was found dead in the 300 block of Tuscany Ridge Heights N.W. at approximately 11:15 p.m.
Police believe the deaths are targeted and domestic in nature.
The names of the victims weren’t released Monday, but late in the evening a friend of Ania Wardzala set up a GoFundMe campaign for Ania’s three children.
“We are heartbroken to share the tragic passing of Ania Wardzala, a beloved mom, daughter, sister and friend,” wrote family friend Diana Wysocki. “Kazio, Kalinka and Katsper, Ania’s dear children, are now facing an unimaginable loss. In this devastating time, we seek to provide support and help these kids navigate their grief, ensuring they have the resources and care they need as they move forward without their mom.
“Ania would have done anything for her children,” the GoFundMe page noted.
Ania’s Facebook page includes images of herself, her children and Kaminski.
Around the time of the emergency alert for Kaminski and for hours afterwards, a CPS HAWCS helicopter swooped over the Tuscany and Rocky Ridge areas hunting for the suspect.
Issuing an emergency alert for such a case is a rarity but police say their fears for public safety grew following the discovery of the two bodies.
“We go through a risk assessment process and once we start to see certain behaviours or concerns, we then look towards utilizing the public for help and alerting the public to risk,” said Insp. Lee Wayne of the CPS major crimes section.
“We don’t want anyone to interact with this individual.”
Kaminski, said Wayne, wasn’t known to police but did hold a firearms possession acquisition licence and did legally own at least one gun.
The slayings are extremely troubling domestic homicides, he added.
“Our thoughts are with the family, they’re drastically impacted by this double homicide and we’ll take every effort that we can to apprehend this offender.”
On his LinkedIn page, Kaminski is listed as a computer software engineer recently employed by Calgary oil and gas companies.
His Facebook page self-describes him as a gardening enthusiast. Photos of Kaminski repeatedly show him with a woman and three young children, some of the images in wilderness settings.
Those children, said Wayne, are “safe and secure.”
Neighbours wake to ‘scary’ scene
Christmas lights and festive decorations adorned the two northwest Calgary houses swathed in crime scene tape on Monday morning as Calgary police investigated the deaths.
“It’s really shocking,” said Kincora resident Shahed Hossain, who lives across the street from the house where police found the senior deceased.
Hossain said he was returning home at around 10:30 p.m. on Sunday when he noticed a police presence on his street, but didn’t think much of it. When he went outside to remove snow from his car Monday morning and realized police had been there all night, Hossain said he became concerned.
“It’s scary,” he said, noting this is the first time he has heard about a major crime happening in the neighbourhood since moving to the street in 2006.
“I chose this neighbourhood because I thought it’s going to be peaceful (and) quiet,” he added.
Over in Tuscany, where the other victim was found deceased, several residents also expressed being shocked and concerned after hearing details of the police investigation.
Wayne Bilbo was shovelling the sidewalk outside his residence as police vehicles continued to come and go from the house where the woman in her 30s was found dead. A toboggan and a small bicycle could be seen on the front lawn of the house, now blocked off by police vehicles and crime scene tape.
Bilbo said he found the known details of the situation to be especially concerning because he often sees children playing outside in the area.
Other Tuscany Ridge Heights residents with small children echoed Bilbo’s sentiments.
Anyone with information about Sunday’s deaths is asked to contact police by calling 403-266-1234. Tips can also be submitted anonymously to Crime Stoppers through its website, by calling 1-800-222-8477 or by using the P3Tips mobile app.
Domestic violence has grown to epidemic proportions, says advocate
An advocate for domestic abuse victims said the killings are the latest extreme examples of a problem that’s grown to epidemic proportions and shows no signs of abating.
“This is tragic . . . we saw an increase at agencies (in Calgary) of 30 per cent during the pandemic and hasn’t gone down and it’s not going to go down for another five to seven years,” said Andrea Silverstone, executive director of Sagesse.
“We’re still seeing the same mental health and economic reverberations.”
Government funding that was present for victims during the pandemic has been curtailed, leaving wait times for counselling support of six weeks and up to three months for sexual abuse services, said Silverstone.
But she said help is there for those at risk, “before the situation gets to be a homicide,” including an online tool, Real Talk on her agency website, sagesse.org.
One-third of Calgarians experience domestic violence “but we don’t want to talk about it,” said Silverstone.