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London police are investigating the suspicious death of a man at an east end park, an area that has seen many homeless encampments in recent years, neighbours say.
Officers responded to the 400-block of Kathleen Avenue, east of the intersection of Third and Dundas streets, at about 6 p.m. Friday to conduct a welfare check. Police found a dead man in the park.
Investigators are treating the death as suspicious, London police said in a news release Saturday. The identity of the deceased has not yet been released by police.
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The coroner’s office and the London police major crime unit are investigating.
Several police officers and investigators remained on the scene at Mildred Barons Park midday Saturday. Police had cordoned off the northeastern section of the park, an area of bush at the edge of the grass, and were seen flying a drone to survey the area.
Mike Kyte, whose grandparents have lived on the street since the 1970s, said a number of homeless people regularly camp out in the wooded area along the northern edge of the park, between the grass and the rail tracks.
“City hall has come in to clear out the encampment before,” he said, adding the number of unhoused Londoners sleeping rough in the park has increased significantly in recent years.
Another neighbour, who has lived on Kathleen Avenue for seven years and declined to be named, said as many as a dozen individuals are living in the park.
Police are asking anyone who may have been in the area or have any information that could assist with the investigation to call London police at (519) 661-5670 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).
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