A 15-year-old found dead at a Hobbema home on Christmas Eve died of gunshot injuries, says the medical examiner’s office.
The teen has been identified as Preston Thom. An autopsy conducted in Edmonton on Tuesday confirmed the cause of death.
Thom is Hobbema’s second homicide of 2010, the last occurring only two weeks earlier. The incidents are not believed to be related.
He was found after members of the Maskwacis RCMP detachment, along with a K-9 unit, responded to a complaint of shots being fired in a residential area at about 6:15 p.m. on Friday.
An unresponsive Thom was found at the scene. Emergency medical services staff pronounced him dead.
No arrests have been made. All parties involved are known to police.
The RCMP major crimes unit, Wetaskiwin/Hobbema general investigation section, forensic identification section and the Hobbema detachment continue to investigate.
Anyone with information on the case is asked to call RCMP at 780-585-4600 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) or Crime Stoppers online at www.TIPSOFT.com.
In a separate incident, a Hobbema teenager has been charged with second-degree murder in connection with the Dec. 10 death of a 36-year-old man who died as a result of injuries on the Ermineskin First Nation.
Police have not revealed the results of the autopsy or information about how the man died.
The youth is under 18 years of age and so his name or other information cannot be released, according to the Youth Criminal Justice Act.