The Calgary police homicide unit has been called in to investigate what it’s calling a suspicious death after police say a man was found dead inside a northeast Calgary hotel.
They say officers were initially called to the Emerald Hotel and Suites at around 11:10 p.m. on Sunday for reports of a man in medical distress in the community of Sunridge. However, the man was found dead upon their arrival.
Danica Burg was staying at the hotel and recalls seeing the parking lot filled with police cruisers when she arrived just after midnight.
“We walked into the hotel to go up to our room [and police] ask what room number we are in,” says Burg, who was staying on the fourth floor. “We go upstairs and there’s probably like 20 cops on our floor towards the end of the hallway and they kind of made us go into our room.”
She says several rooms on her floor were evacuated and that she felt uneasy about staying at the hotel as police investigated just outside her door.
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“It doesn’t really feel safe not knowing what happened; there’s no information being told, we’re just happy to leave today,” Burg adds.
Another guest told Global News that he, too, was staying on the fourth floor and that he was moved to the third floor.
Owen Cal and Michaela Mazurak, who were in town from the Edmonton area, were also staying at the hotel and saw the heavy police presence as well. They’re now thinking over whether they’ll stay at the hotel in the future after hearing what happened.
“It’s hard to say,” Cal says. “Maybe, maybe not, depends on what actually all happened. We don’t really know but right now probably not again, no.”
“Until we figure out what actually happened, it’s hard to know, like it could have just been something, but it also could have been really bad,” Mazurak says. “We did toss and turn a little last night.”
Police say one person is in custody and believe the incident was targeted and that there’s no active threat to the public.
An autopsy is scheduled for Tuesday.
Anyone with information about what happened at the hotel is asked to give police or Crime Stoppers a call.
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