Murder investigation underway after death on Somerset Street

Ottawa police are investigating after a man was killed in the city’s Centretown neighbourhood early Saturday morning.

Officials from the major crimes unit said they were called to a residence on the 400 block of Somerset Street West, near Dundonald Park, around 2:30 a.m. Saturday.

They said a resident in the area made the initial call, reporting some sort of altercation. Ottawa paramedics said they found a 38-year-old man suffering from a “penetrating trauma.” 

Ottawa police sources later confirmed to CBC News that the man had been stabbed. No information about his identity or other details about the incident have been released by police.

Screams heard, storm sewers searched

But neighbours told CBC News they heard screaming around 2 a.m. and saw a tall white man with tattoos being worked on by paramedics shortly after.

"You hear (yelling) all the time in this area, you wouldn't expect anything," said Omar Shanelik, who lives a few streets away.

"There's always drug deals, fights, there's always gang-related violence around here… can't really do much in a city like this, there's gangsters everywhere," he said.

Police began combing Dundonald Park and the surrounding area and opened up storm sewers in the search for weapons and evidence.

Officers also canvassed nearby businesses and asked owners for copies of any surveillance video that might exist, as there are no traffic cameras in the area.

This is the city’s ninth homicide of the year.