N.W.T. woman killed in highrise fall

The death of a Hay River, N.W.T., woman who fell from a downtown highrise building Wednesday is being treated as suspicious, according to police.

RCMP and emergency crews were called to the 17-storey highrise around 4:30 a.m. MT Wednesday. The woman, who neighbours say lived on the 12th floor, was pronounced dead at the scene.

"At this point in time, it's being viewed as suspicious by the RCMP," Sgt. Wayne Norris told CBC News.

"The female received injuries which caused her death, so what we're doing is we're asking the public, if anybody has information in regards to this incident, to contact the RCMP or CrimeStoppers."

Police would not release the woman's name, nor would they say why they are treating her death as suspicious.

One neighbour, Alex Thompson, said he was woken up around 4 a.m. by the sound of "a shriek, like a woman screaming … just for like, I don't know, maybe a second and a half.

"I don't know how to explain it," Thompson told CBC News. "That's why I didn't think too much of it .… You can hear dogs and stuff barking all the time, and people fighting in the parking lot."

Norris said an RCMP forensic team has been sent to Hay River to help with the investigation.