Police are searching for a male suspect after an overnight double-stabbing downtown that left one man dead and one woman injured.
Police said Saturday that a 50-year-old man was stabbed overnight and later died in hospital, making him the city's 20th homicide victim of the year.
Officers were called to the area of 95 Street and 102 Avenue just before 1 a.m. Saturday, where they found a man and a woman suffering from stab wounds.
Both victims were transported to hospital.
The 50-year-old man died while the 33-year-old woman is recovering from non-life-threatening injuries.
While police say they don't know what caused the fight, they say alcohol was definitely a factor in the crime.
Officers say inner-city residents often gather and drink in the area where the stabbing took place.
"We have a number of witnesses but unfortunately many of them were intoxicated, including the female victim," said Scott Pattison with the Edmonton Police Service.
"(It's) an area that's well-known to police. We respond there a lot to calls of intoxicated homeless people."
Investigators say they are looking for a man last seen leaving the scene riding a bicycle and wearing a baseball cap.
Pattison says the police are also pushing government officials for some solutions to areas that see rising rates of violence.
The idea for a facility to house and offer services for the homeless 24/7 is one of the strategies being discussed.
"It puts police in a very precarious position, when the shelters are closed at 8 or 9. There's nowhere to take people," said Coun. Tony Caterina.
Caterina says he expects the issue to come up this fall during budget deliberations.
So far there are no firm plans on getting the centre built.
With files from Sean Amato
