Report on death of Halifax man in police cells 'could be some time'
The province's Serious Incident Response Team and police aren't releasing identity of deceased
It could be months before the cause of death of a man found unresponsive in Halifax police cells early Thursday morning is released.
An autopsy was performed on the 41-year-old Spryfield man Thursday but the province's Serious Incident Response Team won't have a report from the medical examiner's officer "for some time," SIRT director Ron MacDonald said Friday.
Meanwhile, neither SIRT nor Halifax Regional Police are releasing the man's name.
MacDonald said it is a matter of policy that SIRT does not publicly identify people involved in its investigations.
A Halifax police spokeswoman also said Friday that the department will not identify the deceased.
The man was found unresponsive in cells at about 1:45 a.m., police said. EHS were called but their efforts to resuscitate the man were unsuccessful.
He had been arrested for public intoxication outside the IWK hospital at about 10:30 p.m. Wednesday. He was placed in cells at 11 p.m., police said.