POLICE INVESTIGATE HOMICIDE
And shots fired seven blocks away
The Regina Police Service is investigating two shootings seven blocks apart on Robinson Street early Thursday morning — including one that left a Regina man dead in an apparent homicide.
Elizabeth Popowich, RPS spokeswoman, said officers arrived at a home on the 1500 block of Robinson Street and found a deceased 48-year-old man inside. The coroner, Major Crimes and the forensic identification team were called to the scene.
Popowich confirmed that police are treating the man’s death as a homicide and that his death is believed to be connected to the shots fired.
Also at 3:40 a.m., police were called to the 2200 block of Robinson Street to investigate a report of shots fired at an apartment building.
Three apartment buildings near the corner of 14th Avenue and Robinson Street were taped off by police. One of the apartments in a building on the east side of the street had what appeared to be bullet holes through a front patio window.
“It’s still too soon to know whether or not these are connected. But, we obviously have to consider the possibility that they may be,” Popowich said Thursday morning.
“At the same time, we have to not allow that possibility to influence the investigation. So, they have to proceed separately until we know otherwise.”
Popowich said it was unclear which shooting incident occurred first or whether the suspects were driving or on foot. The police had no one in custody by 5 p.m. Thursday. The deceased man had been identified and family contacted, but the police were not releasing his identify until the cause of death was confirmed by the coroner, she said.
A resident, who asked not to be identified, living near the home on the 1500 block of Robinson called 9-1-1 after hearing five to six rapidly fired gun shots around 3:30 a.m. He looked out the window but didn’t see anyone.
Police arrived at the scene and surrounded the home at 1555 Robinson St. while he was still on the phone. The resident said four men moved into the home at the beginning of October. It wasn’t known if the deceased was one of the residents.
In the morning, the police had the house and nearby residences blocked off with yellow police tape. One officer was scanning the yard with a metal detector while another officer was inspecting what appeared to be bullet holes in a broken window at the front of the home.
At around 11 a.m., the deceased man was removed from the home on a gurney and loaded into a vehicle.
A woman living a few houses away heard what sounded like knocking on her door at around 3:30 a.m. She believes that sound was likely gun shots. It wasn’t until she awoke at around 6:30 a.m. that she realized something serious occurred.
“It’s a little bit frightening,” she said. “Not anything quite like this has happened before.”
There have been two confirmed homicides on Robinson Street so far this year. In April, a man was found dead in an alley on the 600 block and in September a 16-yearold boy was killed on the 1200 block.
If Thursday’s death is ruled a homicide, it would be Regina’s eighth in 2015.
Anyone who has information that could assist police in this investigation is asked to contact the Regina Police Service at 306-777-6500. Also, anyone wishing to give information anonymously is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.