Colin Sanders poses outside the rooming house where he lives in Edmonton, Alta., which was the scene of a fatal stabbing, Monday morning. (QMI Agency/David Bloom)

EDMONTON -- A 29-year-old man is dead and another man is facing murder charges after a party at a downtown rooming house turned violent.

Police were called to the 9644 105A Ave. building with reports of a stabbing around 12:15 a.m. yesterday.

Although officers arrived just minutes after the call, the victim was pronounced dead at the scene.

Several people from the house were taken into custody for questioning, police say.

A 32-year-old man was later charged with second-degree murder and possession of a weapon.

Colin Sanders lives across the hall from the main floor suite where the ordeal began with a drinking party Sunday around 5 p.m.

HUSTLE AND BUSTLE

He said he went out for a few hours and when he returned he heard people shouting and some women storm out.

But it wasn't until around 10:30 p.m. when "all hell broke loose," he said. "There was a fight going on in the kitchen."

He never left his suite, but heard the commotion from behind the closed door.

He listened as several people rushed out of the house.

Suddenly, one man yelled, "Johnny, Johnny," he remembered.

When someone instructed another person to "put your hand here," Sanders knew there had been a stabbing and they were trying to cover the wound.

Paramedics arrived shortly after midnight, but it was too late.

"I didn't even come out of my room," Sanders said. "When I hear 10 people running around, I'm not coming out."

A forensic team streamed in and out of the building throughout the morning yesterday.

Sanders said the kitchen, which is shared among tenants, had been blocked off while cops investigated.

He said he did not look in to check out the scene.

UNKNOWN FACES

He doesn't know the young man who hosted the ill-fated party very well, he added. And he didn't recognize any of the rowdy guests.

"I might have seen (the tenant) five or six times," he said.

Typically the building, which mostly houses older people, is very quiet, he explained, which is why he chose it in the first place.

"One old-timer in the front (suite) is not opening up for cops," he said. "He's pretty freaked."

Police have charged Shawn Alex Livingstone with second degree-murder and possession of weapon.

He is slated to appear in court this morning.

This was Edmonton's 26th homicide of the year, compared to 33 homicides this time last year.

ALYSSA.NOEL@SUNMEDIA.CA