Portland police say a man found slumped over in a parked car in the West End is the city’s first homicide of 2017.

Assistant Police Chief Vernon Malloch identified the victim as a 35-year-old man, adding that his name won’t be released until his next of kin have been notified and until the state medical examiner’s office has completed its examination of the body.

“We believe we know who he is, but we’re not sure yet,” Malloch said. “We’re also not sure where he is from, but he does appear to be from the Greater Portland area.”

The victim was found in the vicinity of the buildings at 57-59 Chadwick St.

Though the man’s death remains under investigation and no one has been arrested, the assistant chief said there does not appear to be any threat to the public.

“There’s nothing to suggest (public danger),” Malloch said.

Earlier in the day, Police Chief Michael Sauschuck told reporters that police responded to a 911 call from a resident who noticed a man slumped over in a car parked on Chadwick Street near its intersection with Carroll Street, just blocks from the Western Promenade.

Police found the man in the car, and took him out, but he died in the street around 2:15 p.m., Sauschuck said.

The chief would not say whether the victim had obvious injuries. He said there was no identification on the body.

A section of Chadwick Street was blocked off Monday afternoon while officers awaited the arrival of the medical examiner, who took the body for examination.

Chadwick Street is in the heart of Portland’s West End neighborhood, a densely populated section of the city near the Western Promenade and Maine Medical Center. The West End is famous for its architecture and features some of Portland’s largest historic homes, including the Victoria Mansion museum.

“It’s not a high-crime neighborhood by any stretch of the imagination,” Malloch said. “We get very few calls for service from that area that involve a violent crime.”

However, the West End has not been immune to violence.

On Memorial Day 2016, police were called to investigate the report of a disturbance and shots fired at 146 Chadwick St., an apartment building less than a block from the hospital.

The shooting involved two armed men who police said were quarreling over a woman. Fred O. Dodge and Sam Iserbyt were both indicted in December by the Cumberland County grand jury on charges of criminal threatening with a deadly weapon and reckless conduct with a deadly weapon. Iserbyt was shot in his left thigh as he and Dodge struggled over Iserbyt’s handgun at Iserbyt’s house, police said.

Portland police are asking that anyone with information concerning Monday’s killing to call the department at 874-8575.

There were two homicides in Portland in 2016.

Staff Writer Edward D. Murphy contributed to this report.

Dennis Hoey can be contacted at 791-6365 or at:

dhoey@pressherald.com