Nova Scotia

Police looking for two suspects after man killed in Dartmouth; victim identified

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Police are investigating a homicide after a man was shot in Dartmouth, N.S., on Monday.

Police are looking for two suspects after a man was shot and killed in Dartmouth, N.S., Monday night.

Halifax Regional Police responded to a report of gunshots on Ancona Place around 9 p.m.

Officers found a man who had been shot. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police have identified the victim as 37-year-old Cortrell Thomas. His death has been ruled a homicide.

Investigators don’t believe the shooting was random. They are still looking for two suspects who were last seen leaving Ancona Place through the Po2 Craig Blake Memorial Park. A description of the suspects was not provided.

Police are asking anyone with video footage from the area, including Capistrano Drive, Appian Way and Casavechia Court, to contact them at 902-490-5020.

Neighbours say they heard multiple shots

Longtime Ancona Place resident Ghislain Desainde says he and his wife were having a later dinner around 8:50 p.m. Monday when they heard loud cracking sounds ring out, which they initially thought were fireworks going off, but soon realized that wasn’t the case.

“We both looked outside, and we didn’t see anything, but we saw neighbours looking outside and eventually the police arrived,” said Desainde.

“And that’s when we found out there was a shooting and that somebody had been killed.”

Police confirmed it’s a homicide investigation and forensic officers remained at the scene Tuesday morning as part of their investigation, but no further information has been released at this time.

A police officer with the Halifax Regional Police forensic identification unit investigates the scene of fatal shooting that occurred at a home on Ancona Place in Dartmouth, N.S., on March 31, 2025. (Jesse Thomas/CTV Atlantic)
Ancona Place police A police officer with the Halifax Regional Police forensic identification unit investigates the scene of fatal shooting that occurred at a home on Ancona Place in Dartmouth, N.S., on March 31, 2025. (Jesse Thomas/CTV Atlantic)

Forensic police stuck multiple evidence stickers to the front facade of the home, indicating what appeared to be at least two bullet holes. One shattered a hole through the front door window, another evidence marker was taped next to a hole in the facade above the front door frame.

Another neighbour who also heard the gunshots go off Monday night believed he heard maybe four or five separate shots.

The man, who for safety reasons wished to remain anonymous, said he looked out his window immediately and saw two people dressed in black running from the scene towards a pathway at the end of a cul-de-sac that leads towards Craig Blake Memorial Park.

“I didn’t see if they were carrying anything,” said the neighbour, who told CTV News he saw a body lying dead on the doorstep in front the of Ancona Place home.

Police are asking anyone with information on the case to call them at 902-490-5020.

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