Melissa Alexander heard a commotion as she left the temporary shelter where she worked downtown, as she did routinely, to warm up her car for the ride home.
She recognized some of the residents who were staying at the shelter the city was running out of what was then the Strathcona Hotel on York Street. Despite her shift as a community support worker being close to over, she hurried over to the paved parkette see if any of them were in distress.
