Police say they are treating the death of a man in central Halifax as a suspected homicide.
Officers responded to the 2000 block of Gottingen Street before 11 p.m. Tuesday after receiving reports of shots fired in the area.
“Quite late last night I heard about five or six shots in rapid succession and then a car ran into a tree and the wheels kept running into the tree again and again,” says area resident Michael Karanicolas.
When they arrived, officers found two men inside a vehicle. A 23-year-old Dartmouth man was pronounced dead at the scene.
A 31-year-old man who is originally from Halifax was taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries. Police said Wednesday that his condition has since improved.
Investigators say they are treating the victim’s death as a suspected homicide at this time, but an autopsy will be conducted to determine an exact cause of death.
The man’s name is being withheld pending notification of his next of kin.
There is no word on arrests or suspects at this time.
This is the second violent death in Halifax this week. A well-known former basketball player was found dead inside a home on Cook Avenue Sunday evening.
Police have confirmed that 29-year-old Tyler Bradley Richards was the victim of a homicide.
The former Halifax Rainmen star was popular with fans and kids, but was suspended after he was charged with drug and weapons offences a few years ago.
No arrests have been made in his death.
Police are investigating to see whether both incidents are connected.
Police have vowed to step up patrols, and they are urging anyone with information to share it.
“It's a beautiful place to live, and you take the good with the bad,” said Karanicolas. “It's important as a community to come out against violence, at the same time I understand that nowhere is completely safe.”
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Bruce Frisko
