Major crime detectives investigating after newborn found dead in Victoria parking lot

Major crime detectives are investigating after a newborn baby was found dead in a Victoria parking lot Wednesday night.

Major crime detectives are investigating after a newborn baby was found dead in a Victoria parking lot Wednesday night.

Paramedics and Victoria police patrol officers were called to reports that a dead infant was discovered in the 700-block of Bay Street, near the Blanshard Centre shopping plaza, just before 10 p.m.

In a statement Thursday, Victoria police said investigators believe the baby was recently born, possibly in the area.

The child's mother may be in need of urgent medical care and support, police said.

Detectives with the Vancouver Island Integrated Major Crime Unit, which investigates homicides and suspicious deaths, have taken over the investigation.

Several Victoria police officers, including a forensic identification team, were examining the scene outside the plaza's Subway restaurant, near the intersection of Bay and Blanshard streets, in the early morning hours Thursday.

The restaurant remained behind police tape as investigators collected items from the scene and took photographs in and around the restaurant property, including inside a restaurant bathroom.