Man found in park is Winnipeg’s 24th homicide victim: police

The suspicious death of a man discovered Wednesday morning is now being treated as a homicide – the city’s 24th of 2019.

Winnipeg police said the victim, Gabriel Radford Coates, 44, was found in a park near Higgins Avenue and Maple Street around 7 a.m.

The investigation is ongoing, but police said Coates may have been assaulted overnight or during the early morning hours.

Const. Jay Murray said the victim may have been living in the park.

“Gabriel has recently been very transient. Where the homicide occurred, there was at least one tent. We don’t know if he had been staying there long.”

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Murray said police are not yet prepared to comment on the cause of Coates’ death, but are asking anyone with video surveillance in the area – which includes a number of businesses – to get in touch.

“You never know what might help,” he said.

“I think it’s commonplace for many businesses to have video surveillance, so we’re asking anyone with video surveillance (in the area) to contact investigators.”

Anyone with information is asked to call the Homicide Unit at 204-986-6508 or Crime Stoppers at 204-786-TIPS.

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