Downtown Edmonton death being called ‘suspicious’: Edmonton police

Edmonton police say they are investigating what’s being called a suspicious death that occurred downtown Friday morning.

Around 2:05 a.m., officers say they responded to a weapons complaint near 107 Avenue and 104 Street.

When they arrived, they found a man in medical distress and began first aid. A short time later paramedics arrived at the scene and pronounced the man dead.

EPS says at this time the man has not been identified and an autopsy is scheduled for Wednesday, Dec. 27.

“Just standing here, the sirens, this is regular all the time. Day and night,” said Kristy Lee, a nearby resident.

Lee has lived in the area for 10 years. She says it’s becoming noticeably less safe since COVID. She even took the drastic step of switching jobs so she could walk her kids a few short blocks to and from school.

“Someone came at me personally to take my son’s bike, yelled at us just walking, lots of significant incidents that aren’t normal when you’re just walking around in your community. And it’s not easy for kids to handle on their own,” said Lee.

She and other parents in the area have been advocating for change — having conversations with all levels of government and the school — asking for better coordination of support in the area.

“I’ve become so attuned to safety that we stopped doing things we used to do and enjoy,” said Lee.

One local business owner says crime in the area is so frequent she worries she needs to close down her store if police and government don’t work to stop it.

“We’re extremely hard working people and we’re barely making a living because of all the stress the downtown area is causing. I think enough is enough, fix it,” explained Nunu Desalgne, a local business owner.

Desalgne says many people are too scared to shop in the area. She wants to see more resources from the government and city to make people feel safe again.

“Quite frankly, we are not the ones creating the problem either but we’re the only ones suffering from the problem,” said Desalgne.

Homicide detectives are continuing to investigate.

Police are asking if anyone has any information, to contact investigators at 780-423-4567 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.