'Incredibly tragic:' Ottawa residents shocked by death of teen in Centretown park
Shaken residents of Ottawa worked Sunday to process the aftermath of an apparent fight that killed a teenager in Centretown on Friday night.
- Sign up now for our daily CTV News Ottawa newsletters
- The information you need to know, sent directly to you: Download the CTV News App
Police say they were called just before 8 p.m. to McNabb Park, at the corner of Bronson and Gladstone avenues, where they found an injured 16-year-old boy. He was rushed to hospital where he later died.
The name of the victim has not been released.
McNabb Park reopened to the public following initial investigations on Saturday, but the tragic incident has left residents shaken.
Tara Fowler and Jean Christophe live nearby and frequent the park several times a week. The two say up until now, the area has been relatively quiet.
"As far as violence, I haven't really seen too much of that," said Fowler on Sunday.
"We're always here just sitting in the grass over there," points Christophe. "To think that someone lost their life here - it's crazy."
A resident living adjacent to the park on Gladstone Avenue, who wishes to remain anonymous, tells CTV News he believes he witnessed the incident.
He recounts how he walked his dog past a group of teens around the time of the supposed fight at the southeast corner of the park. He says he saw a group of three to five people huddling over what he believed at the time were backpacks. He claims they were there for around 15 minutes.
Upon learning of the tragic outcome, he says he no longer feels safe in the park.
"Whenever I walk past that area, I’ll think of that."
Andrew Geeves visits the Charlie Bowins Skatepark in the west end of the park regularly. He says the news came as a shock.
The Charlie Bowins Skatepark on Apr. 14, 2024 (Sam Houpt/CTV News)
"I've seen a couple of scraps here before, but it's pretty chill for the most part," he said. "I think it's terrible, man - I've kind of known this place to be pretty safe."
"It's not a neighborhood that I've been worried about," said Stan Mathews. "I've been here for three years and never worried about my safety in any way, so it's pretty surprising."
As of Sunday evening, no arrests have been made. Police are looking for witnesses as they continue their investigations. The death has been considered suspicious.
"It's incredibly tragic and I'm very shocked that it happened in this park," said another resident Brenna Egan.
Anyone with information is asked to call the homicide unit at 613-236-1222 ext. 5493, or if you wish to remain anonymous, you can call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or crimestoppers.ca.
Police say they do not believe there is an ongoing risk to public safety.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'Inspires a sense of adventure': Sask. man conquers Mount Everest
A Saskatchewan man made it to the summit of Mount Everest earlier this month.
Grayson Murray's parents say the two-time PGA Tour winner died of suicide
Grayson Murray's parents said Sunday their 30-year-old son took his own life, just one day after he withdrew from a PGA Tour event. The family asked for privacy and that people honor Murray by being kind to one another.
Some birds may use 'mental time travel,' study finds
Real quick — what did you have for lunch yesterday? Were you with anyone? Where were you? Can you picture the scene? The ability to remember things that happened to you in the past, especially to go back and recall little incidental details, is a hallmark of what psychologists call episodic memory — and new research indicates that it’s an ability humans may share with birds called Eurasian jays.
This type of screen time has the worst effect on kids: experts
According to some experts, there is one type of screen time that is continuously excessive, and it's having a severe effect on our children.
Hamas rocket attack from Gaza sets off air raid sirens in Tel Aviv for the first time in months
Hamas fired a barrage of rockets from Gaza that set off air raid sirens as far away as Tel Aviv for the first time in months on Sunday in a show of resilience more than seven months into Israel's massive air, sea and ground offensive.
Blaine Higgs 'furious' over sexual education presentation
New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs has shared his anger on social media over a presentation in at least four high schools.
Trump confronts repeated boos during raucous Libertarian convention speech
Donald Trump was booed repeatedly while addressing Saturday night’s Libertarian Party National Convention.
Indianapolis 500 delayed as strong storm forces fans to evacuate Indianapolis Motor Speedway
The start of the Indianapolis 500 was delayed as a strong storm pushed through the area Sunday, forcing Indianapolis Motor Speedway officials to evacuate about 125,000 fans who had already arrived for "The Greatest Spectacle in Racing."
Driver, 18, gets $3,000 ticket, 32 demerit points after speeding on Laval boulevard
A young driver received a hefty fine from Laval police after they say he was driving nearly 100 km/h over the posted speed limit.