Suspicious death under investigation in northeast
Police are investigating a suspicious death after the body of a man was found outside a Rundle Heights townhouse complex in northeast Edmonton Monday morning.
Officers were called about a disturbance complaint at around 1:50 a.m. in the area of 32 Street and 116A Avenue. Upon arrival police found a man lying on the grass. He died at the scene.
Police have not released the man’s name, age or a cause of death. An autopsy is scheduled for Tuesday, a police news release said.
Neighbours reported hearing fighting, then banging sounds early Monday.
Police cars and yellow tape blocked off a section of 32 Street between 116A Avenue and 113 Avenue on Monday morning.
By mid-morning, police had erected a black tent on the front lawn of Parkview Estates townhouses. At around 10:30 a.m., staff from the office of the chief medical examiner wheeled a body out of the tent on a gurney and loaded it into a van.
Homicide detectives are helping with the investigation after police contained a large scene, said Edmonton Police Service northeast watch commander Staff Sgt. Barry Fairhurst Monday.
“Right now we’re treating this as a suspicious death and we’re waiting on further direction from homicide and forensics,” said Fairhurst, adding police are looking to speak with any witnesses.
Neighbour Thomas Whittmor was smoking on his deck in the early hours of Monday when he heard people fighting nearby. That’s not unusual for the area, he said, adding police are often at the townhouse complex.
After he went inside his home, he heard a couple of bangs. He didn’t realize someone had died until he woke up later Monday morning and saw the street full of police cars.
Another neighbour, 19-year-old Abigail Birch, was sleeping at her parents’ house across the street when she heard bangs. She thought she had dreamt the sounds until three police officers knocked at the door with flashlights and asked her if she had seen or heard anything.
Birch, who was babysitting her four younger siblings, said it made her sick to her stomach to know someone was killed at the townhouses. Several families of newcomers live in the complex, many of whom have young children who play in the front yard.
“I really hoped it wasn’t the children (who were) hurt,” she said.
Residents are upset by the amount of violent crime in the northeast Edmonton neighbourhood, she said, and some people are considering moving.