A woman was killed in an intimate partner homicide in Bridgewater on Sunday, and a man is now in custody.

Bridgewater Police Service responded to a 911 call at 11:41 a.m. from a home on Haven Drive. Officers arrived to find an elderly woman inside with injuries from an apparent assault. Emergency Health Services paramedics assessed her, but she was pronounced dead at the scene.

A man, also elderly, was found in another room with injuries. He was taken to South Shore Regional Hospital in police custody and is appearing remotely before Bridgewater Provincial Court today.

Deputy Chief Danny MacPhee said there were no prior reports of intimate partner violence between the two, either to police or other service providers. He noted that the case highlights ongoing concerns about how to recognize and prevent intimate partner violence in the community.

“We have to do a better job as a community, as services, and in the justice system,” MacPhee said. “The biggest gap is the cases that slip through the cracks.”

Forensic officers from both Bridgewater Police Service and Truro Police Service processed the scene, and police executed a search warrant at the residence. The Nova Scotia Medical Examiner Service is conducting an autopsy to confirm the cause of death.

MacPhee said this is the first intimate partner homicide in Bridgewater in recent memory and that incidents like this impact the entire community.