Death in Fort Richmond investigated as homicide

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This article was published 13/08/2017 (2447 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Police are investigating the city’s 20th homicide of the year after a man was found dead Sunday night in a Fort Richmond apartment block.

Winnipeg Police Service spokeswoman Const. Tammy Skrabek said police were called to the scene of a possible assault on the 100 block of Killarney Avenue around 10 p.m., and found a 29-year-old man who wasn’t breathing. A Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service crew soon arrived and pronounced the man dead.

Police don’t yet know exactly how the man died or whether a weapon was used, Skrabek said Monday.

Several people, including witnesses in the area and potential suspects, are currently in custody or being interviewed by police.

West Lee, 22, heard screams late Sunday from his apartment, located only four doors down from where the incident took place.

Lee has lived in the building for two years and said the community is safe and secure, so a nearby homicide was surprising to him and other tenants.

“I was so shocked,” he said Monday afternoon. “So scared.”

Skrabek said Winnipeg is well ahead of the pace set in 2016, which had a total of 24 homicides.

While the number of homicides so far this year is troubling, the vast majority are related to gangs or other criminal organizations and the public isn’t at any increased risk, she said.

“We’re not seeing the homicides of random people out there,” Skrabek said. “We’re not seeing spur-of-the-moment attacks on people.”

The police homicide unit continues to investigate the death, and anyone with information is asked to call 204-986-6508 or Crime Stoppers at 204-786-TIPS (8477).

ben.waldman@freepress.mb.ca