Halifax police are investigating the city’s ninth homicide of the year.
It happened on Leaman Drive in Dartmouth around 2:52 a.m. Thursday.
Police say they received a call from a man who said he had been shot.
Officers found the man behind John MacNeil Elementary School. He was brought to hospital where he was pronounced dead.
CTV Atlantic has learned the victim is 48-year-old Rickey Walker, a manager at a nearby call centre.
On hearing the news, co-workers said they shed many tears.
“My first reaction, not Rickey,” said co-worker Kayla Churchill. “He was the sweetest, he would help with personal problems. Just the sweetest guy you’d ever meet.”
"That's terrible. That's horrible. Like whoever this poor person is and what the circumstances were its terrible,” says nearby resident Sylvie Beaudoin.
The body was sent for an autopsy Thursday afternoon as a forensic team continued collecting evidence at the scene.
"It’s a little too early in the investigation to say it is a random act. At this point we have no indication that it’s linked to the other homicides,” says HRP spokesperson Wendy Mansfield.
There is no word on arrests at this time.
Police say it is important for anyone who saw anything suspicious in the area on Thursday morning to come forward.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Marie Adsett.
