WATCH: Two people are in custody tonight as Halifax police investigators piece together a brutal stabbing death in downtown Dartmouth early Thursday morning. Global’s Julia Wong reports.
HALIFAX – Two people have been arrested in connection to an early morning stabbing in Dartmouth that left one man dead.
Bradley Gerald Knoll, 59, died after being stabbed just after 2 a.m. on Thursday in the 100 block of Portland Street between Wentworth Street and King Street.
Sgt. Pierre Bourdages with Halifax Regional Police said one woman was arrested around 4:30 a.m. in Dartmouth while a man was arrested around 2 p.m. in Halifax. Police would not say what led them to the pair. Both are in custody and are being interviewed. No charges have been laid.
He said the pair are from Dartmouth but would not comment on whether they reside in the residence on Portland Street that investigators concentrated on.
He also would not comment on the relationship between the man and the woman but said that the pair knew the victim.
“We do not believe this homicide was a random incident,” he said.
Police found Knoll on the ground outside 86 Portland Street. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Bourdages declined to release any other details about the victim.
Residents heard commotion
Jamie Clarke lives across the street from where the stabbing occurred.
“I woke up to the sound of a scuffle outside and it sounded pretty violent,” he said.
“I was stirring out of my sleep and I heard a guy yell, ‘Call 911, call 911,” and it was getting weaker and weaker just over the course of 20 seconds as he was saying it.”
Clarke called 911 and said he could see the victim from his apartment window. “I went outside and the police got there. They started to attend to him and clearly he was in distress. They started compressions right away,” he said.
“I’d say within about 10 to 15 minutes … they put a sheet over his body. It was pretty dramatic.”
Clarke said he did not get a glimpse of the suspect.
The Dartmouth man said the incident has left him nervous.
“It’s jarring.”
Neighbours left shaken
Tim Hickey lives in the building near where the stabbing took place.
He said he didn’t see or hear the incident but was woken up by police in the middle of the night.
“There was no commotion, no nothing (when it happened). The police woke me up. That’s when I knew something was going on.”
Hickey said he saw police again a few hours later as they knocked on doors with the K-9 unit.
“I don’t even know if I’ll be spending the night in my apartment.”
Police investigation continues
Bourdages would not comment on whether a weapon has been retrieved. He also would not say whether the pair arrested was directly involved in the fight that led to the stabbing.
“The only thing I can really say is that these two were arrested in relation to the homicide. The investigation is ongoing,” he said.
There was also no comment about whether police are still searching for more suspects.
Portland Street was closed for most of Thursday morning, between King Street and Wentworth Street, but is now reopened.
– With files from Rhonda Brown, Global News.
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