Mother tells of screaming as two murdered in tower block
Suspected killer falls to death after police arrive
A YOUNG mother has described how she heard a woman shouting for help at a block of flats where two people were murdered and the suspected killer fell to his death from a balcony after police arrived atthescene.
Emergency services were called to the disturbance at the 19-storey Donside Court in the Tillydrone area of Aberdeen at about 8.15pm on Tuesday.
Police Scotland said the bodies of a man and woman were found inside their flat and the deaths are being treated as murder.
Detectives are also investigating the death of a second man who fell from the 12th floor of the tower block.
The case has been referred to the Police Investigations and Review Commissioner (Pirc) to examine what happened after officers entered the flat.
Detective Chief Inspector Keith HardiesaidPirc’sinvolvementis “standard practice” in such circumstances as police were present at the time the man who fell from the balcony died.
It is understood all three people involved lived in the block of flats and were known to each other, and officers are not looking for anyone else in connection with the deaths.
The dead woman has been named locally as Tracy Gabriel, originally from Huntly in Aberdeenshire.
Friend Shona Trowbridge, posted a tribute to her Facebook page. It said: “You were a special person, I grew up with you. We had some good times and some absolutely funny ones, but we did have some bad times also.
“But we did what was best for us all we kept smiling and seen them threw u were one of a kind RIP my Quine xxx.”
Toni Dey, 19, who lives in nearby, said she heard screaming from the block.
The mother of two said: “I heard some girl screaming ‘help me, help me’, then about 10 minutes after I heard loads of screaming and shouting. I didn’t call the police as I thought it was kids messing around, then I heard loads of police.
“I can’t remember exactly what time I heard it all. I had messaged my mum on Facebook saying there was a lot of screaming but couldn’t see what had happened.”
A handful of mourners left floral tributes outside the tower block yesterday.
Mr Hardie said: “At about 8pm we received a call from a local resident regarding an ongoing disturbance at Donside Court. Officers attended and within one of the flats we found the bodies of a male and a female.
“I’m entirely satisfied that both these individuals were murdered and we are investigating the circumstances surrounding that.
“We can also confirm that a second man died at the scene a short time after officers attended. He came from one of the balconies at a fair height and died from the injuries he sustained when he landed.
“Because the police were in attendance at the time, what we do on the instruction of the procurator-fiscal is refer the circumstancesforanindependent review. That is not to say the police did anything wrong, far from it, but it’sstandardpracticenowadays.
“We are not looking at anyone else in relation to this incident and I would like to reassure the public that this is a contained incident and there is no wider threat to the community.”
‘‘ I heard some girl screaming ‘help me, help me’ then I heard loads of screaming and shouting