Boy, 14, charged with 1st-degree murder of woman, 'shocking' string of shootings and assaults: police
A 14-year-old boy has been charged with first-degree murder and a range of other serious offences in connection with unrelated shootings that killed one woman and injured five people in Winnipeg.
"I think it's going to be terrifying and concerning for a lot of Winnipeg, the fact that we would have so much violence and committed by such a young individual," Const. Jay Murray told media on Friday. "I think it's shocking."
On Friday, police released what they believed to be a timeline of the crimes, which they said began on Wednesday at about 2:30 a.m., when a 44-year-old man was found injured on Balmoral Street near Cumberland Avenue.
Police said the man had been hit by a vehicle, but it was later determined that he had been shot beforehand. He was taken to hospital, where he is in critical but stable condition.
The next incident police said they responded to was a double shooting on Flora Avenue.
Police said Danielle Dawn Cote, 27, was walking down the street at around 3:15 a.m. Wednesday when she was shot and killed. Police said she was with her 18-year-old cousin at the time, and that he was also shot, but is in stable condition.
Just after midnight on Thursday, police said they responded to another incident, this time at the national historic site known as The Forks.
They said a 40-year-old man had been shot and another man had been stabbed. The man who was shot was taken to hospital, where police said he is in stable condition.
On Friday, investigators said they had also learned of a fourth shooting Thursday that had previously been unreported. They said they believe an unidentified woman was shot at on the 100 block of Isabel Street between the first two incidents.
Police said they believe the woman and a man she was with then left the area on foot.
Officers arrested the teen Thursday afternoon in the North Kildonan area. Soon after, police said they also recovered a gun that they believe was used in all the shootings.
Murray said it's not yet known how the teen got the gun.
Police said none of the people who were shot knew the shooter or each other, save for the two cousins shot on Flora Avenue.
Murray didn't say whether investigators knew of a specific motive, though he suggested first-degree murder charges are usually laid in premeditated murders.
The teen is charged with first-degree murder, attempted murder, attempted murder with a firearm, two counts of aggravated assault, two counts of assault with a weapon, possessing a firearm contrary to a prohibition order, three counts of discharging a firearm with intent and failing to comply with a sentence.
Murray said that given the fourth unreported shooting, it's possible there are other incidents police don't yet know about, and more charges could be on the way.
"It is possible that other people in Winnipeg had a firearm pointed at them."
The teen didn't have a prior record with police, said Murray, but he did have previous run-ins with the criminal justice system.
He remains in custody.
Anyone with information, including about the shooting on Isabel Street, is asked to contact investigators at 204-986-6508 or Crime Stoppers at 204-786-8477.
