Police are now treating the body of an adult woman found beside a Halifax P-9 school Monday afternoon as a homicide.
Halifax Regional Police said Tuesday morning they believe they know the identity of the individual, who is a woman in her 30s. An autopsy is scheduled for Tuesday, and police said that at this time, the case has gone from suspicious to a homicide.
Police said a staff member at St. Patrick’s-Alexandra discovered the woman shortly after 2 p.m. Monday while the school was still in session. The body was found in a six-foot deep window well that runs along the side of the building.
Police arrived on scene and helped shuffle the students at the primary to Grade 9 school out the back door.
Though initially called in by the staff member as a report of an injured woman, police said they don’t know if she was alive at the time of being discovered. She was deceased upon their arrival.
One area resident said she was amazed that incidents involving the trench didn’t happen more often. She said children routinely play around the well, which is nicknamed “the dungeon.”
“There’s been concerns from me for years,” said the woman, who wouldn’t give her name.
“My kids grew up around here. I used to be scared to death they’d fall down there. Anybody who fell down there you wouldn’t get out unless you were about eight feet tall. It’s a very dangerous spot.”
The school’s parking lot and courtyard were cordoned off Monday as forensic investigation teams and medical examiners worked. The woman’s body was removed Monday evening and canvassing was done in the area.
