EDMONTON – Police cruisers rushed to the Oliver neighbourhood early Monday morning after getting calls about a seriously injured man.
When they arrived at 114 Street and just north of Jasper Avenue at around 1 a.m., they found an 18-year-old man laying in the road unconscious. He was taken to the Royal Alexandra Hospital by ambulance where he died.
Police are calling the death a homicide.
“This area is going to be blocked off for quite a while. Homicide section has been called in,” said Acting Inspector Dan Jones.
Investigators aren’t revealing the identity of the victim.
No arrests have been made at this point, but police are speaking to people who were in the area at the time of the incident.
“We’ve spoken to some people. The level of their detail I have no idea as of yet, but people are being spoken to right now,” explained Jones.
Jones is hopeful investigators will get some information from witnesses.
“It’s obviously a very populated area at even that time of night, so we’ve got our fingers crossed,” said Jones.
An autopsy is scheduled for Monday, but police say the man was found suffering from apparent stab wounds.
Days earlier and a few blocks away, the body of 51-year-old Curtis Raymond Dugray was found at 111th Street and 99th Avenue.
“I just think Edmonton’s getting really big,” says Craig Stanfield, who’s lived in the area on and off for 20 years. “With that, comes crime, and more crime, and we had a murder here, and had one at the Joey Tomatoes less than a year ago. That’s what happens I guess.”
“It doesn’t bother me a little bit,” says John Bolton, “because it’s going to happen.. this is not the end of it.”
He says the area has been improved a lot over the past ten years. He’s lived in the neighbourhood for 14 years and really enjoys the area.
“I’m not moving.”
Others don’t feel quite as secure.
Shree Jadhav heard some yelling between 1 a.m. and 2 a.m. Monday morning when she was up with her young child.
“I didn’t know that someone was killed though… it’s a little bit scary.”
Jadhab has lived in the area with her husband and baby for about a year, but they are now considering moving to a different neighbourhood.
However, the president of the Oliver Community League says residents should not be worried.
“When you look at a community the size of Oliver, you’re always going to find that there’s going to be acts of violence, there is going to be murders and crimes committed,” explains Jarrett Campbell, “but overall, the community’s never been safer. You’re seeing downward trends in crime, and you’re seeing the EPS doing beat patrols… from a safety perspective, the residents of Oliver should not be concerned.”
The incident will be Edmonton’s tenth homicide of 2013.
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