Witnesses described hearing a pop and seeing people flee an apartment building near a busy downtown London intersection Tuesday evening after a shooting left one man dead.
Officers responded at about 5:45 p.m. to reports of a possible shooting in the area of Central Avenue and Richmond Street and found a man with life-threatening injuries, police said Wednesday. The man died later in hospital.
A male suspect was arrested, police said. He was expected to appear in court Wednesday.
Police remained in the area Wednesday, with forensic investigators arriving at an apartment building at the southwest corner of Central Avenue at Richmond Street around 1:15 p.m.
London police forensic officers are shown at an apartment building at the southwest corner of Richmond Street and Central Avenue on Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026. Police said a fatal shooting occurred in the area Tuesday evening, while witnesses reported seeing people leave the building afterward. (Geoff Robins/The London Free Press)
A woman who lives in the apartment building across the street said she was doing her makeup beside her bedroom window, which faces the apartment, when she heard a pop.
“I heard a pop and I thought it was a car backfiring, but then I turned around and saw out my window, multiple people clambering out of the unit,” said the 34-year-old, who didn’t want to be identified for personal safety reasons.
“All of a sudden I see a man wearing all white clothing with a blood stain running down his left leg running the opposite direction, heading east towards the park,” she said.
The witness said a woman was yelling for someone to call emergency services. She said a man was already calling police when she went outside to see if a call had been made.
“It’s a little scary. I’ve definitely noticed some activity in that house at all hours, unfortunately. There are a lot of people coming in and out of the apartment,” she said. “It worries me when I leave for work in the mornings or really any time of day. It hit so close to home.”
A 60-year-old man who lives in a nearby building said he was talking with people near the intersection at the time of the shooting. He said he called emergency services.
“I heard a pop,” said the man, who also asked not to be named because of safety concerns. “Certainly, didn’t sound like a car popping. It sounded more like a gunshot coming out of an apartment about 50 feet from us.”
The man said he saw two men leave the building.
“One guy ran out wearing all black with a black hood in one direction behind the Joe Kool’s parking lot and another guy, all in white, ran up Central towards Victoria Park out of the apartment,” he said.
Police are asking anyone who was in the area between 5:30 p.m. and 6 p.m. and may have information, dash-cam footage or residential or business surveillance video, to contact them at 519 661-5670.
More information will be provided as the investigation continues, police said.
The shooting death triggered the fifth homicide investigation of the year in London.
Raman Devi was found with life-threatening injuries at her home on Chelton Road, southeast of Commissioners Road and Highbury Avenue, on Sept. 15. Police arrested a man at the scene.
Devi, a mother of two young children, died from her injuries. Mandeep Singh, 41, is charged with second-degree murder in the death that London police described as a femicide, the intentional killing of a woman or girl because of their gender.
Lillian Leonard, 73, died in hospital several days after she was stabbed during a break-in at her Raywood Avenue home, north of the intersection of Wellington and Base Line roads, on Aug. 22.
Nelson Enrique Cornejo, 40, of London is charged with second-degree murder.
Ramone Thomas, 26, of Toronto was one of two men found with gunshot wounds on Dundas Street east of Elizabeth Street on Jan. 25. He died in hospital.
Matthew Yousufy, 26, of London is charged with second-degree murder.
Brandon Nichols, 45, of London, died after he was found with stab wounds in a hallway of an apartment building on Dundas Street east of Adelaide Street on Jan. 12.
Robert Mitchell Cornelius, 38, of London, is charged with second-degree murder.
Editor’s note: This file has been updated from its original publication.
Allison Young grew up just outside London and joined The London Free Press as a reporter in 2026. She is a graduate of Carleton University’s journalism and humanities program.
ayoung@postmedia.com