Victim was ‘lured’ to Edgemont home, killed attacker in self-defence: Calgary police

Calgary police confirm the death of a man inside an Edgemont home last week was an act of self-defence.

Officers were called to the home, in the 0 to 100 block of Edgemont Court N.W., just after 4 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 9.

They arrived to find a man in his 40s in medical distress and a woman in her 30s in medical distress.

The man was pronounced dead at the scene, and the woman was taken to hospital in stable condition.

Woman ‘lured’ to home: police

Calgary police said Tuesday that the victim had been “lured” to the home under the “false pretence of a property showing.”

It was the second time the victim had shown the man the property, which was a rental.

“While in the residence, the man attacked the woman without provocation,” said acting Staff Sgt. Scott Guterson at a news conference.

She had gone to the home with her father, but Guterson says the two were “inadvertently separated in a fairly large house” when the brazen attack happened.

During their fight, the woman was able to escape after injuring her attacker.

She then got the attention of a neighbour, who called 911.

Deceased identified

Following an autopsy, the deceased has been identified as 48-year-old Shahbaz Ahmed.

Police say he and the victim were not involved in a domestic relationship.

Because the woman was defending herself, Ahmed’s death has been deemed a non-culpable homicide, and no charges will be laid.

“An incident of this nature is extremely rare and deeply unsettling for the victim, her family and all Calgarians,” Guterson said. “The victim’s actions undoubtedly saved her life.”

“In my experience in the homicide unit, this is easily the most clear-cut case of self-defence that I have ever been involved in.”

“She did everything right, she went to the house with someone else,” Guterson said, calling the victim “completely innocent.”

Deceased charged in 2023

Court records obtained by CTV News show Ahmed faced a list of charges in 2023, including assault with a weapon, possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose and threats causing bodily harm.

He was also found not guilty of a separate assault with a weapon charge stemming from 2022, but was convicted of mischief damage under $5,000.

‘Heartbroken and furious’: Family speaks out

A statement sent to CTV News on behalf of the victim’s family says she “did what she had to do to stay alive.”

The statement, in full, can be seen below:

“On Friday, January 9th, our sweet baby girl was showing a man bigger, stronger and older than her, a unit for the 2nd time when he attacked and assaulted her unprovoked and premeditated. One of the reason why we are sharing this is because we hope no vulnerable innocent woman or man ever has to go through this living nightmare. If her story saves one life, that will be a [miracle.]

“Our family is not okay. We are shattered. We are walking around like we’re functioning, but it feels like something inside us broke and we can’t put it back together.

“Someone we love more than we can explain was brutally attacked and left fighting for her life. She is a sweet, kindhearted, beautiful, intelligence, sensitive old soul and would do anything to “help others. An avid volunteer in the community and loves people so deeply. She is the kind of person who makes other people feel safe. And now we’re trying to understand how something this evil could happen to someone like her.

“The first hit knocked her unconscious. And when she woke up, she didn’t wake up to safety. She woke up into a living nightmare, something outa a horror movie.

“She tried to escape again and again. She fought with everything in her just to breathe, while he was trying to strangle her to death and gripped his hands over her mouth so she couldn’t breathe. She tried so hard just to make it to the next second, just to stay alive.

“When we saw her, it didn’t feel real, as we broke down in tears the reality set in that we almost lost our sweet baby girl. Her face was so swollen and bruised we barely recognized her. Her body was bruised from head to toe. One eye was swollen completely shut and wouldn’t open for days. She suffered broken bones, scratches, the aftermath of a possible concussion and whiplash. Her hair was so matted from the struggle it took over 13 hours and professional help to untangle…. For the first couple days after the assault she was beaten so bad she was bed ridden and unable to move or function without her family by her side 24/7. All from trying to break free and run to safety.

“I keep thinking about her waking up and realizing she was still trapped in it. I keep thinking about the fear she must have felt. The helplessness. The shock. The moment she realized she might not get to come home and able to hug her loved ones and tell them she loved them one more time.

“She didn’t want to hurt anyone, she tried for so long to fight him off and escape. But when she was about to take her last breaths, she did what she had to do to survive and defend herself from this man taking her life. She escaped. She got to safety. She called the police. She did the impossible.

“And now she is left with injuries we can see and pain we can’t even name.

“We are heartbroken and furious. We are grieving who she was before this happened, because something was taken from her that day that she can never get back. And the most painful part is that she has to carry this for the rest of her life.

“Please hold her in your prayers and the strength to recover. Because right now we are trying to figure out how to live in a world where this could happen.

“If you’re someone who feels like you don’t have the will to keep going… look at her. She held on. She chose to live, even in the middle of absolute terror. And that’s something I will never stop being in awe of.

“Please any real estate agents and rentals managers or anyone out there be safe.”

Reality for real estate agents

Realtor Lindsay Buziak was stabbed to death on Feb. 2, 2008, while showing a home in Saanich, B.C.

No charges have ever been laid.

“We feel that it was a premeditated event. We don’t know why. There have been no arrests, and there are no suspects. It has been 18 cold, hard, brutal years,” said Lindsay’s father, Jeff Buziak, who works as a real estate broker in Calgary.

For him, Friday’s fatal altercation in Edgemont is a reminder of how cautious women have to be when showing homes.

“Considering what I went through, what I’m going through with my daughter being attacked while showing a home, I am so grateful that the woman who was showing is OK,” he said.

“I’m glad the attacker is dead because they get what they deserve.”

For the past 16 years, every February, Buziak has done an annual walk from the police station in Victoria to the B.C. legislature.

He will do it again in a few weeks, on Feb. 2.

“The thing people have to understand here is these are women at work. It is the most vulnerable situation you could be in. There needs to be legislation, or there need to be ways of these women protecting themselves,” he said.

Victoria Dalgleish, a Realtor at RE/MAX First, takes several precautions when showing someone a home, including parking on the street as opposed to “trapping” herself in the driveway, using an app that can contact a designated emergency contact and also keeping distance from a client when showing.

She is also very aware of where the exits are.

“At the end of the day, we are opening up doors for people and putting ourselves in a bit of a vulnerable situation,” she said.

Dalgleish also knows self-defence.

Diana Trang, who owns Satori YYC, teaches self-defence and advises individuals to consider knowing it.

“I’m always advocating for self-defence and being proactive and learning it before you actually need it. Obviously, I hope that people don’t ever have to use it,” she said.

Trang’s clients include Realtors and teachers, and she has also instructed corporate sessions.