Woman dies after falling from 5th-floor balcony during attempted arrest in Calgary

A woman is dead after apparently falling five storeys from a balcony at a downtown Calgary apartment as police were trying to arrest her Wednesday during a drug-related search warrant.

Officers were granted the warrant to search the fifth-floor apartment in the 200 block of First Street S.E. They were treating the operation as high-risk because it was believed firearms were in the suite, police said in a release.

At about 12:30 a.m., officers arrested a man outside the apartment in relation to a shooting investigation and outstanding warrants.

Officers then surrounded the suite and tried to persuade a woman — who was also wanted in connection with the investigation — to come out and surrender.

"At some point, the woman went over the balcony railing and was found critically injured on the ground below the apartment's fifth floor balcony," the release said.

Officers gave her emergency first aid and she was taken to hospital, where she died a short time later.

The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) has been called in to investigate the fatality.

"While it would appear that the woman went over the balcony railing, exactly what happened will be the focus of the ASIRT investigation and, as such, we are unable to comment any further about the circumstances," police said.

"However, officers had no physical interaction with the woman."

All the officers involved are considered witnesses and therefore remain on active duty, police said.

ASIRT is called in whenever there is an incident involving police that has resulted in serious injury or death.