A Cape Breton First Nations community was in mourning Thursday after a pedestrian was struck and killed by a passing pickup truck overnight.

The incident on Highway 105, part of the Trans-Canada Highway, closed the road in both directions for nearly nine hours as police investigated the collision that took place around 1 a.m.

Although police have yet to release the name of the 37-year-old man who was killed, news of the fatality and the man’s identity spread quickly through the Wagmatcook First Nation.

“He had a band, he was a singer too. He had a kid, he had a family. He will be missed,” said local resident Mary Isatore.

Schools and businesses in the area were closed Thursday out of respect for the man’s family.

RCMP said officers and paramedics responded to a report of an injured person on Highway 105 at 1:05 a.m., and when they got there they found the deceased man on the side of the road.

“He was pronounced dead on scene. It was determined that it was a vehicle-pedestrian collision on the highway,” said Victoria Country RCMP spokesman Const. Eric Latwaitis.

Police have not said whether charges will be laid, but did say the driver is from Halifax and is cooperating with authorities.

Simon Denny, a friend of the victim, said the man is well-known in the community — and so is the problem he thinks led to his death.

“We’ve been saying it for years that traffic needs to slow down through this reserve,” said Denny, who works as a security guard at the local community centre.

The speed limit in the area is reduced from 100 km/h to 70 km/h — but something needs to be done to slow down the many drivers don’t abide by the law, Denny said.

“Sometimes the traffic is just flying by here,” he said.

Denny is not the only one wary of the highway’s dangers.

“It could happen anytime. That’s why I don’t let my kids or grandkids out on the road,” Isatore said.

“I lived near the road and that’s why I don’t trust it, and they don’t slow down.”

Police have not determined speed to be the cause of the collision as of Thursday evening.

With files from CTV Atlantic's Kyle Moore