‘He didn’t want to die’: Family of Calgary man killed in standoff speaks out

Family of a Calgary man killed after a 30-hour standoff with police last week are speaking out, sharing details of the tense and heart-wrenching experience. 

Patrick Robert Kimmel, 45, was shot to death by police on Friday, March 15 in the community of Penbrooke Meadows after he barricaded himself inside a home.

The situation started the day before, at 3:30 p.m., as police attempted to execute a search warrant at a home in the 300 block of Penswood Way S.E.

Before officers were able to enter the home, shots were fired in their direction, prompting police to ask nearby residents to shelter in place.

In the hours that followed, Kimmel’s family made attempts to urge the man to surrender to police.

‘He was hit’

Though Kimmel and his wife Jamie McConnell separated years ago, they were still married.

McConnell, who lives in Drumheller, Alta., says she first learned of the situation from her sister, who told her police were at Kimmel’s house in Calgary.

Shortly after, she managed to reach him on his phone.

“I’m not sure the exact time, but it was after it had already started because initial shots had already been fired. He was hit,” she said.

“We were able to get through to him on his phone and talk to him while it was happening, and he was in shock. He said he was hit a few times and he didn’t know why.

“I asked him to tell me where his injuries were, but he was already in distress and couldn’t really convey exactly where his injuries were.”

Patrick Robert Kimmel (left) and Jamie McConnell (right). McConnell says she spoke with Kimmel, as did his daughter and one of his three sons.

“We were all trying to talk to him to hopefully get him to try to come out without it going any further.”

Eventually, the phone call ended.

‘Scared and didn’t know what to do’

McConnell began working with negotiators, who were attempting to get another phone to Kimmel so family could speak with him again and potentially coax him out of the house.

“The people that were at the scene, he never would have come out for them,” McConnell. “He wasn’t himself, he wasn’t in his right mind and he was scared and didn’t know what to do.”

“He’s not going to look at the people outside that were firing as anything but the enemy.”

Though police were able to get another phone to Kimmel, McConnell says investigators ultimately decided not to let family speak with him, and to instead only communicate with him through negotiators.

“The last time I had spoken to him was about 9 p.m. (on Thursday),” McConnell said.

“He just said that he loved all of us and he was sorry and that he wasn’t going to make it, and that they would never let them come out.”

Criminal history

Court documents show Kimmel had a criminal history that included firearms violations.

He was arrested for an armed home invasion in Drumheller in 2021, where no one was injured.

At the time, RCMP had issued a warrant for his arrest saying he was “armed and dangerous.”

He was arrested shortly after and charged with several offences.

Many of the charges were stayed or withdrawn, according to court records.

His last court appearance was in 2022.Patrick Robert Kimmel is shown in an RCMP handout photo from 2021.

Addictions and mental health issues

Kimmel’s son Malcolm Kimmel acknowledges that his father had some struggles with addiction and mental health, but says there will always be “good memories before that.”

“He’s always there, smiling, being like a role model… and then kind of fell to mental health issues and an addiction.”

Patrick Robert Kimmel, 45, was shot to death on Friday, March 15, 2024, following a 30-hour standoff with Calgary police. (Supplied)

‘He didn’t want to die’

McConnell says she worried that even if Kimmel came out of the Penbrook Meadows home peacefully, police would still shoot him.

“I feel like they were talking to him, but they were just trying to get them to come to that door so that they get it ended, not so that they can help him,” she said.

McConnell says she feels that she and Kimmel’s kids were not kept in the loop as the situation was unfolding.

“When you’re able to update social media once an hour or so, but you cannot update his wife and children, I feel that there’s something really wrong with that,” she said.

“He didn’t want to die, he didn’t want to go down this way.”

ASIRT investigating

Calgary police said in a Saturday news release that after Kimmel shot the initial rounds at officers, he continued to shoot from the home throughout Thursday afternoon and into the next day.

“We estimate more than 100 rounds were fired and we are extremely thankful no officers or bystanders were injured as a result,” police said.

“Responding members exercised extreme patience and worked tirelessly to find a peaceful resolution.”

Police say the “situation escalated” at 8:30 p.m. on Friday.

“During the engagement with the suspect, tactical unit officers, along with members of the RCMP emergency response team, discharged their service weapons. As a result, the suspect was shot and declared deceased.”

Alberta’s police watchdog, the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT), has taken over the investigation, and police will not be releasing further information.

Police shooting statistics

Tom Engel, chair of the policing committee for the Criminal Trial Lawyers Association, says the number of police shootings in Alberta is grossly disproportionate to the rest of Canada.

“Our police officers shoot at people far more often per capita than anywhere else in Canada.

“For example, in 2023, there were 21 police shootings in Alberta, which was a 90 per cent increase from 2020.

“In Canada, police shot at 85 people in 2023 from Jan. 1 to Dec. 15. Forty-one of those shootings were fatal, so Alberta has about 25 per cent of the cases where the police shoot at people.”

Engel calls it a “very complex issue” and says we need answers.

“Personally, I think that the Alberta government should call a public inquiry into this. This is a great problem,” he said.

With files from Tyler Barrow