Police probe suspicious death — the second in 24 hours
Edmonton police investigated a suspicious death in northeast Edmonton Thursday and closed southbound access on 50 Street from Manning Drive to 137 Avenue.
Officers were seen holding a white tarp over a nearby walkway.
The police canine unit was on scene assisting officers.
An ambulance was seen leaving the area shortly after 11:15 a.m. Thursday.
This was the second suspicious death in 24 hours. The EPS homicide section was investigating the death of a 43-year-old man found downtown Wednesday night.
Police found the man’s body outdoors at around 9 p.m. in the area of 100 Street and 106 Avenue, police said in a news release Thursday. Police are treating the death as suspicious.
A small strip mall, an empty lot and the Hope Mission are all in the area.
An autopsy was scheduled for Thursday.
If either death is ruled a homicide, they will be the first since Edmonton police Chief Dale McFee announced the force will name homicide victims unless there are exceptional circumstances around the case.
Those exceptional circumstances may include a murder-suicide where there is no investigative reason and the family may be adamant the name is not released, or the homicide of a child, where there is no benefit to releasing that child’s name.
For the past two and half years police have evaluated homicide files on a case-by-case basis, naming victims if it serves an investigative purpose.
The change was announced at an Edmonton Police Commission meeting last Thursday following the completion of a report by the Community Safety Knowledge Alliance in April at the request of McFee.
There have been 16 confirmed homicides in Edmonton in 2019. The EPS homicide count differs from Postmedia’s count because police do not include a police shooting as a homicide. Devlin Neyando was shot and killed by police on Jan. 3.