Cst. Perley Sidwell Calhoun

Fredericton City Police Cst. Perley Sidwell Calhoun, 35

An eight-year veteran of Fredericton City Police force is dead after an apparent accidental shooting which occurred 1981-07-05 at the police department’s York Street headquarters.

Perley Sidwell Calhoun, 35, a constable on the force hired in November 1973, died when a bullet discharged from the gun of a fellow police officer informed sources said. Police chief Gordon Carlisle described the incident as a routine “training exercise” at the police station.

The accident is alleged to have occurred when the two policemen were practicing drawing their guns, sources said. A bullet was accidentally discharged and “Perley just happened to get in the way of the bullet”, a family spokesman said.

Deputy Mayor Bill Thorpe, in a prepared statement issued on behalf of the city, said Constable Calhoun won “respect and admiration from the public, his fellow officers and his superiors.” He is indeed a great loss to the police department and the community he served.

Constable Calhoun’s death marks the first time in Fredericton’s police history an officer has bee killed while on duty.

Constable Calhoun is survived by his wife, Bertha (Hurley); a daughter, Lisa; and a son, Barry, at home, his parents Mr. and Mrs. Murray Calhoun of Boiestown. Three brothers, Arden of Fredericton, Jimmy and Jerry of Toronto; six sisters, Mrs. John Hebb (Marie) of Randolph, Mass., Mrs. Douglas Christen (Jackie) of Halifax; Mrs. Jeanne Calhoun, Mrs. Mervin Green (Myrna) Mrs. Peter Reid (Zella) and Mrs. Ivan Pond (Roxanne) of Boiestown; his grandmother, Mrs. Perley Calhoun Sr. of Babcaygeon, ON, and a grandfather, Kennay MacDonald, Fredericton, several aunts and uncles and nieces and nephews.

The Daily Gleaner