The body of an adult woman was found beside a Halifax P-9 school Monday afternoon.
Halifax Regional Police said a staff member at St. Patrick’s-Alexandra discovered a woman shortly after 2 p.m. 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.
Police said the victim has not yet been identified. They also didn’t know if the death was a murder or accidental, but said it is being treated as suspicious until there is reason to believe otherwise.
“All we have right now is that the person who called in reported a body being on the ground suffering from apparent injuries,” said police spokesman Const. Brian Palmeter. “We’re in the early stages of our investigation. We don’t have further information than that.”
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 yesterday as forensic investigation teams and medical examiners worked.
