Manitoba

Police investigate Grant Park area homicide

A man is dead after being found with serious injuries at an apartment building on Taylor Avenue early Sunday. 

Victim was found unresponsive Sunday morning in Taylor Avenue apartment building

Police are at the scene of a homicide on Taylor Ave in Winnipeg's Grant Park area. (Marina von Stackelberg/CBC)

Winnipeg police say a man is dead after being found early Sunday with serious injuries at an apartment building on Taylor Avenue.

Officers were called to a disturbance in one of the suites at about 3:40 a.m. 

They found an unresponsive man inside the suite. He was rushed to hospital in critical condition, but died of his injuries. 

Police are staying tight-lipped about details, saying they can't elaborate on the nature of the man's injuries, or whether they have suspects at this point.

Next-door neighbour Roshan Syed said he woke up to the sound of police in his hallway around 4 a.m.

"They were asking me, did I hear anything? Did I see anything? I told him I was asleep," Syed said.

"I was scared. Why are the cops here?" he said. "They told me something happened, but not to worry about it."

Hassan Murtaza and Roshan Syed live in the apartment next door to where the homicide occurred. The two say they believe an older couple lived next door to them. (Marina von Stackelberg/CBC)

Neighbours say couple lived in suite

Syed's roommate, Hassan Murtaza, said police have been coming and going from the third floor of the apartment all day. He said officers told him they expect to be there all night.

Murtaza said he believes an older couple lives in the unit, but he's never spoken with them.

Murtaza and Syed said there are no surveillance cameras in or around the building, which is located across the street from a Walmart.

They say they've never heard of any violence in their apartment or the area. 

"This is really peculiar," Murtaza said. "It's scary."

"We used to keep our apartment open ... now we're saying, you have to lock it every time, and you have to be really careful of who you let in, especially when we are outside and there are people coming right behind us. We let them in without even knowing who they are."

More homicides than normal: police

Winnipeg police spokesperson Jay Murray said there is no risk to the public, and the crime scene is contained to the one suite where the incident occurred.

"This case is still in its very early stages," Murray said. "We still have a number of witnesses we want to interview."

This is the city's 14th homicide of 2019.  

"You look at how 2019 has unfolded, we have seen more homicides than what we traditionally see," Murray said.

"But the fact is, the nature of homicides is that they're often very random, and I don't think that there's a way to accurately predict what we're going to see going forward," Murray said.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Marina von Stackelberg is a senior reporter at CBC's Parliamentary Bureau in Ottawa. She covers national politics and specializes in health policy. Marina previously worked as a reporter and host in Winnipeg, with earlier stints in Halifax and Sudbury. Connect with her by email at mvs@cbc.ca or on social media @CBCMarina.