The UBC president's residence, Norman MacKenzie House, is shown in a handout photo.
RCMP have called "suspicious" the death of a man found on the lawn of the home of the University of British Columbia president.
In a statement issued Thursday evening, the campus RCMP unit said investigators have "deemed the death suspicious in nature" and called in a specialized regional unit to help with the investigation at the massive UBC campus on the west side of Vancouver.
UBC President Arvind Gupta was not at home at the time, but his two daughters were inside, said Sergeant Drew Grainger, spokesperson for the UBC RCMP detachment. "The scene revealed signs of a sudden and unexpected death," Sgt. Grainger said.
Just after noon on Thursday, University RCMP responded to a call from a maintenance worker who found the dead man on the back lawn of Norman MacKenzie house, Sgt. Grainger said.
He added that there's no "indication that this person is related to the president or the president's family."
Major crime investigators, forensic experts, a canine unit and a police helicopter were at the crime scene on Thursday evening, Sgt. Grainger said. He said the Mounties' main priority is now identifying the man, who is thought to be about 60 years old.
Matthew Ramsey, director of Issues Management for UBC, said the RCMP have released little information on the situation.
"We don't know," he said in an interview when asked if the dead man was associated with British Columbia's largest university.
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