Man found dead after violent parking lot ‘melee’ on Hamilton’s west Mountain

Hamilton police are investigating a homicide after a man was found dead following a talk out" that turned violent on the city's west Mountain.

Around 1 a.m. Sunday morning, according to police, two groups of men arranged to meet at the parking lot at 310 Limeridge Road West in Hamilton. One group was from the city, while the other group was from the Peel region. Police have yet to disclose what exact city.

The meeting was supposed to be a talk out" regarding an ongoing dispute between two males, said Det. Sgt. Peter Thom, of the major crime unit.

I won't get into the reason for the dispute, but it wasn't anything gang-related," Thom said at news briefing Sunday. There wasn't supposed to be any violence."

When the group from Peel arrived in two vehicles, they were swarmed" by 20 to 30 people from the Hamilton group, police say. The situation quickly got out of control," and a number of weapons were involved, said Thom, adding that he could confirm that sticks, chunks of asphalt, pipes, knives and possibly a taser were used in the street disturbance."

When police responded, three individuals from the Peel group had suffered stab wounds, and one had a head injury. All three were transported to hospital. Two have since been released and a third male is recovering from surgery.

In a video posted to social media, a white car can be seen being driven dangerously" around the Big Bear Food Mart parking lot, said Thom. He said the vehicles, which belong to the Peel group, were taken over" by the Hamilton group.

In one instance, the video shows two males being struck by the white car, both being tossed" into the air. Neither of those men had shown up at hospital as of 3:15 p.m. Sunday, said Thom.

Those two individuals must have suffered from significant injuries," he said. Police are looking to identify them.

Later on at 5 a.m., Thom said police were advised" by the Peel group that they were missing one of their members.

At that point, police returned to the scene and, with the help of the K-9 unit, located a 19-year-old man suffering from stab wounds.

Unfortunately, that male was deceased," said Thom.

Police have yet to release his identity as they work to notify the family. Thom would not confirm what city the male was from.

Thom said they believe the man had fled" the parking lot on foot and are unsure at what point he died. Video of the incident shows a number of people running from the parking lot as the meeting grew violent.

It also shows three males running away from the parking lot, toward the Kilkenny Castle apartments at 11 Kendale Court. A forensics vehicle was stationed near the building on Sunday, and its front entry had been taped off.

It was a bit of melee there," said Thom. There was a lot of panic involved."

The man's body has since been transported to the Ontario Forensic Pathology Service in Toronto. An autopsy will take place on Monday to determine a cause of death, said Thom.

This is a tragedy, something that absolutely got out of control and should never have happened," he added.

Members of the Peel group are co-operating with police, said Thom, giving them a jumping off" point for the investigation.

Thom said they are looking to speak to a mixture" of 20 to 30 young" males from Hamilton that were involved. They are appealing for anyone involved or anyone who knows those connected with the incident to come forward.

Unless they have an explanation as to why they were there and what their involvement is, they could be facing serious charges," said Thom. Give us a call and let's deal with what happened."

There have been no arrests or charges laid thus far, according to police. Thom could not comment on who and how many have been identified and if they were known to police.

Thom said they are also looking for another vehicle that was involved, but would not provide a description of the vehicle during an update Sunday afternoon. Police continue to canvass the neighbourhood and have spoken to numerous" witnesses in the area.

Officers are also collecting video evidence from members of the community as well as businesses in the plaza.

As investigators were on scene Sunday, police had a large section of the plaza parking lot, a section of Limeridge Road West and a majority of Kendale Court cordoned off.

The parking area was strewn with weapons and other evidence," said Thom. It was a fairly substantial crime scene."

In the lot, a blue Ford Mustang had its back window blown out and its back driver side tire was flat.

Police also swabbed the front of a white BMW that had heavy damage to the passenger side of its windshield.

The vehicles that were vandalized and badly damaged," belonged to the Peel group, said Thom. A third vehicle had no visible damage.

Heather Warren, an area resident, said she didn't hear anything but to wake up to police tape was terrible."

We've been here about seven years now and it wasn't so bad. But, after a couple years, now it's getting a little out of hand," said Warren.

It gets to the point where you don't feel safe anymore," she added.

Another neighbour, who refused to be named for safety reasons, said around 1:30 a.m. he heard a lot" of cars screeching" outside of his home.

People were yelling, shouting at each other," he added. Car doors were slamming ... it sounded like people getting in and out of the cars."

He said he believes he heard at least" one sound that resembled a gunshot.

Sunday's homicide marks the city's second in less than a week after 17-year-old Myah Larmond was shot early Wednesday, and later died of her injuries in the central part of the city.

Fallon Hewitt is a Hamilton-based reporter at The Spectator. Reach her via email: fhewitt@thespec.com