Nova Scotia

Police identify Dartmouth man, 25, killed in weekend shooting

Joseph Beals, 25, has been identified as the man found shot in his vehicle on Saturday in Dartmouth. Police are treating his death as a homicide.

Joseph Beals died in hospital

Police blocked off the area around the crash for several hours Saturday. (Monty Mosher/CBC)

Police have identified the 25-year-old killed in a weekend shooting in Dartmouth.

Halifax Regional Police launched a criminal investigation Saturday after responding to a weapons complaint in Woodlawn just after 2 p.m. Officers found the driver unconscious in his vehicle near the intersection of Mount Edward Road and Cranberry Crescent.

The driver, Joseph Beals of Dartmouth, had suffered gunshot wounds and was taken to hospital where he died overnight Saturday, a release said.

The Nova Scotia Medical Examiner Service made the homicide ruling following an autopsy, according to a police news release issued Sunday afternoon.

Police would not say whether the driver was shot before or after the crash, nor whether he was alone in the vehicle.

The area was blocked off to traffic for several hours Saturday.

An investigation by the integrated criminal investigation division is ongoing.

Police are asking anyone with relevant video, including dashcam footage, to share it with police.

They're looking for footage captured between 2-2:15 p.m. at:

  • Main Street between Ridgecrest Drive and Lake Major Road.
  • Ridgecrest Drive.
  • Mount Edward Road.

Anyone with footage from those locations and between those times can contact police at 902-490-5020.