Farida Abdurahman hit-and-run death: she was in marked crosswalk, police say
CBC News | Posted: July 28, 2015 12:31 PM | Last Updated: July 29, 2015
Calgary police speaking to person of interest after Buick Regal found
Calgary police say a woman killed in a fatal hit and run Monday night was in a marked crosswalk.
A silver Buick Regal struck 33-year-old Farida Abdurahman as she crossed Centre Street North near 43rd Avenue at about 11:15 p.m. She died in hospital.
Police found the damaged car a few hours later on Fourth Street northeast, and are now questioning a person of interest.
Abdurahman was returning home from a housekeeping shift at the Peter Lougheed hospital when she was struck.
Her friends are devastated by her death.
"I was almost one of the last people to talk to her," said Iman Sherif. The two had spent the evening together talking about Abdurahman's upcoming trip to visit family in Ethiopia in September. "She was excited to go see her mom after about 15 years. She was looking forward to a lot of things."
Witness Sharon Mackenzie rushed out and tried to help as emergency crews arrived. "You never forget what it looks like, and you sort of bury it, you have to because if not you have really horrid nightmares," she said.
Police say it's believed speed was a factor in the crash.
Sgt. Colin Foster said anyone in the area who saw the Buick speeding away should contact police.
Abdurahman is the fourth pedestrian killed in Calgary this year. Three of those have been victims of a hit and run.
"There is usually reasons why people do flee the scene of a collision. Whatever reasons that may be, 99 per cent of the time that we've dealt with these type of collisions, if the driver remained at the scene we wouldn't be looking at charges," said Foster.