Fatal shooting outside North Preston home ruled a homicide

A 36-year-old man is dead following a shooting in the Halifax-area community ofNorth Prestonon Wednesday night, according to RCMP.

In a news releaseThursday, the Mounties said they received a report that a man had been shot near the 1100 block of Downey Road around 11:48 p.m. local time on Wednesday.

Officers that were nearby on an unrelated matter arrived at the scene and secured the area. The Halifax Regional Police emergency response team was also sent to the scene.

Once there, police saidthey found the victim suffering fromgunshot wounds. The Westphal man was taken to hospital, where he later died.

RCMP Cpl. Guillaume Tremblay said officers seized a vehicle that was near the scene for further analysis.

Hesaid the shooting took place outside a home in a residential area of North Preston.

Tremblay said police are investigatingthe death as a homicide. Noother information was provided.

"It's certainly hard to elaborate without jeopardizing the investigation but what we can say to reassure the public is that there's no risk to the public," he said. "It wasn't a random act in nature."

When asked about possible suspects, Tremblay reiterated that the investigation is ongoing and encouraged people who may have information about the shooting to contact police or Crime Stoppers.