Tyler Richards, former Halifax Rainmen player, found dead in west-end house

Halifax Regional Police say the suspicious death reported Sunday evening in Halifax's west end is a homicide.

Tyler Richards, a former St. Francis Xavier University basketball star and ex-Halifax Rainmen player, is the man who was found dead in a Cook Avenue house, according to a former coach.

"He was probably the happiest when he was on the basketball court competing," said Steve Konchalski, who coached Richards at St. FX from 2004 to 2009.

"He was part of our family and when you lose a family member, it's always a tragedy." 

The man, 29, was found dead in a house near the Halifax Shopping Centre. Halifax Regional Police have not confirmed his identity or how he died. 

• Halifax police investigate suspicious death on Cook Avenue

"The real bottom line here, despite however this thing went down, is that a family has lost their son and a little girl has lost her father," said Konchalski.

Richards was a three-time first-team Atlantic University Sport all-star. He later played for the Halifax Rainmen, but was let go from the team in 2013 after he was charged with drug and weapons offences. 

In an AUS profile posted to Youtube in 2007, Richards said he's from Mulgrave Park and that he's a graduate of St. Patrick's High School. He says working hard in class and on the basketball court got him into St. FX.

"Whether shooting the ball, crashing the boards or hitting the books, just work hard and do your best," Richards says looking into the camera.

"He loved the game of basketball. It was his passion," said Konchalski.

"He was an all-star in our league for four of the five years. He was a young man that was so enamoured with the game that he carried a basketball with him every where he went, including to his senior prom." 

The Halifax Regional Police forensic identification unit and the medical examiner were at the house, which is in the 6900 block of Cook Avenue, on Monday morning.

Officers took pictures around the building and appeared to be searching for fingerprints on the front door. 

A vehicle parked in the house's driveway was also being examined.

Police were first called to the home on Cook Avenue at 8 p.m on Sunday. Six police vehicles were stationed at the scene and the canine unit was brought in.

A section of the street was shut down on Monday while police continued their investigation.

Steve Chapman, who was dropping his daughter off at a daycare Monday morning near the house where the body was discovered, said he doesn't think the death speaks to the level of safety in the area.

"I believe it's an isolated incident," said Chapman. "When you have this much police presence, it's kind of like, no one's going to be coming around today."