Homicide investigated after body found by strip mall

Police are now investigatingthe suspicious death of a man in northwest Calgary as a homicide.

Police responded at about 9 a.m. Sunday to a call in the 1500 block of 16th Avenue N.W.

When officers arrived, they discovered the body in a parking lot near a strip mall across from North Hill Centre.

An autopsy was conducted Monday, and the victim has been identified as 47-year-old Mark Anthony Mariani of Calgary.

The cause of death isn't being released for investigative reasons.

Police said the motive isn't known and investigators are exploring all avenues, including the possibility that the incident was random in nature.

This was the 12th homicide of the year in Calgary.

Anyone with information on the incident or any suspicious activity in the area between midnight and 8 a.m. Sunday is asked to call police at 403-266-1234 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.