The Royal Newfoundland Constabulary says its investigators aren’t treating a Sunday-morning shooting that left one man dead in the west end of St. John's as a random incident.
“Investigators of the suspicious death of a man on Craigmillar Avenue do not believe this to be a random act,” the RNC posted on its Twitter account (@RNC_PoliceNL) Monday morning.
However, the update did not indicate if there was anyone in custody or if the man’s death has officially been ruled a homicide.
“The investigation remains active, and we will continue to update our community on this matter as information becomes available,” finished the Tweet.
⚠️UPDATE⚠️ Investigators of the suspicious death of a man on Craigmillar Avenue do not believe this to be a random act. The investigation remains active, and we will continue to update our community on this matter as information becomes available. #YourRNC #PublicSafety pic.twitter.com/eXwPGMvrN8
— Royal Newfoundland Constabulary (@RNC_PoliceNL) July 6, 2020
Sunday morning, residents in the area of the lower end of Craigmillar Ave., awoke to the presence of heavily armed police and the body of a man in the middle of the street covered in a yellow tarp.
At least one resident reported hearing about four gunshots about 4:10 a.m. Police had arrived on the scene within minutes after receiving the report.
Part of their investigative focus was a red SUV on the street, with the driver door opened.
The RNC asked area residents to remain inside their homes for much of the day as the investigation proceeded, but by Sunday evening, traffic along Craigmillar had resumed, yellow tape that had remarked the scene was down and the large police presence that had been in place — and which at times, had included the Tactics and Rescue Unit, police dog services, and forensic officers — was no longer apparent.
The Constabulary is canvassing the area looking for closed-circuit, dashcam and home-security footage from around the time of the incident, and are believed to have already obtained some potential evidence in this regard.