CALGARY — Nearly 30 minutes before she arrived home to discover her two children dead in her Panorama Hills home, a frantic mother called 911 worried about their welfare.
But police were not sent to the home on Panorama Hills Pl. N.W. Friday night until she called a second time, screaming then hanging up, after finding her son Jason Louie, 13, and daughter Jane Louie, 9, killed.
Their father James Bing Jun Louie, now faces two counts of first-degree murder.
Steve Dongworth, manager of Public Safety Communications revealed yesterday two 911 calls were made that fateful night by the victim's mother Ying Louie, but only one of them was relayed to police.
At 8:33 p.m., Ying called 911 from a cellphone in a car on her way home worried about her kids after she tried several times to phone them.
But after Ying answered a series of questions, and also gave her home address, the decision was made not to send cops.
"The information that was given did not present the level of risk in our assessment that warranted a police officer attending at that point," he said.
The call lasted about eight minutes and included an offer to phone back once she got home if she felt police were needed, he said.
It wasn't until the second call was made at 8:59 p.m., which consisted of nothing more than a scream, that police were sent to the home where they found the bodies and Ying in a physical struggle with Louie, who is also charged with attempted murder.
Major Crimes Insp. Guy Slater said even if police were dispatched earlier, it wouldn't have changed the tragic outcome as the children were already dead by 8:33 p.m.
Dongworth said while an initial review reveals the dispatcher correctly followed protocol, and nothing is immediately being done to change them, a review is underway.
"Now that we know what was the outcome of this call of course we'll take a second look but the call evaluator that evening asked all the right questions and I believe made exactly the right assessment of the risk at that time," he said.
Louie made a brief first appearance in provincial court yesterday and his lawyer, high profile defence counsel Noel O'Brien, adjourned the matter until Dec. 14.
He said he spoke with Louie, but would not discuss publicly their exchange.
KATIE.SCHNEIDER@SUNMEDIA.CA
