Homicide unit investigating man’s death following assault

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This article was published 16/08/2019 (1711 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winnipeg police are investigating a death that, pending autopsy results, could be declared the city’s 26th homicide of the year.

A man in his 30s was found unresponsive in the Polo Park area around 5:20 p.m. Friday and later died. The Winnipeg Police Service was not identifying the man Saturday in order to make sure his next of kin are notified, but investigators believe he was assaulted by a man he knew. The men were both living in the same encampment nearby, police spokesman Const. Jay Murray said.

Police believe they had a dispute that turned violent overnight Thursday, into Friday morning. How long the man had been unresponsive at Tylehurst Street and Wolseley Avenue West is unknown. Murray said investigators don’t believe the victim was sleeping when he was attacked. He couldn’t say whether a weapon had been used in the assault.

Police weren’t called to the initial fight. They responded when an individual notified them the victim was unresponsive on Friday afternoon.

A 29-year-old man, Alexander Agnus McPherson, has been charged with aggravated assault. The investigation is ongoing and the death hasn’t been deemed a homicide.

“A post-mortem examination will be conducted to determine the cause of death, and charges may be upgraded depending on the results of that examination and our continued investigation,” Murray said.