Gunfire in core wounds 2 men

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PHOTOS BY RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Katrina, who lives in the Manitoba Housing complex in the 600 block of McGee Street, talks about her efforts to save one of the shooting victims.

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   • One man dead after Maryland shootings

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Police tape surrounds a home in the 600 block of Maryland Street after the double shooting early Saturday.

When a shooting victim collapsed outside her front door, a Winnipeg woman didn't hesitate to help.

The woman, who would only identify herself as Katrina, said she immediately sprang into action using her training as a health care aide when she realized the man, whom she described as 22 or 23 years old, had been shot shortly after midnight Saturday.

"When I first opened the door, he was on the ground and all he said was 'help,'" she said a few hours later, standing near her residence in the 600 block of McGee Street.

"He was barely coherent. I would chalk that up to the shooting... I just did what I could to prevent him from getting worse. I gathered towels and put it on the wounds.

"A police officer said the actions of a neighbour and myself probably saved his life."

Winnipeg police said he was rushed to hospital in serious condition, but has since been upgraded to stable.

Police spokesman Const. Jason Michalyshen said another man who was found shot nearby in the 600 block of Maryland Street is in critical condition.

"His condition is very, very serious," he said.

Police believe the two men were shot in the 600 block of Maryland and one stumbled between the houses to make his way to McGee Street, where he collapsed.

For most of Saturday, yellow police tape blocked parts of the alley between Maryland and Sherbrook streets, Maryland and McGee south of Wellington Avenue, and the alley behind McGee. Evidence markers could be seen across the entire cordoned-off area.

It was the second straight Saturday of shootings in the Spence neighbourhood, with several people hit. Michalyshen said the shootings are under investigation as separate incidents and police can't say if they are linked.

Last Saturday, two men were shot in separate incidents, one at Sargent Avenue and Langside Street, the other in the 400 block of Maryland. Another man was stabbed in the 500 block of Langside.

"We can't guess, we can't speculate. We have to base it (the investigation) on facts," Michalyshen said.

He couldn't say if the shootings were tied to Thursday's double shooting at the Salisbury House restaurant on Pembina Highway that left one man dead and another in hospital.

Jeffrey Michael Lau, 23, died Thursday after he was shot at the restaurant. Another victim, identified by media as Garrick Nickel, 22, is now in stable condition.

Police have not made any arrests in any of the incidents.

As for Saturday's shootings, an area resident said an elderly couple live in the house on Maryland that police taped off.

"My daughter heard two people arguing and then she heard three gunshots," the woman said. "She doesn't know where it was, but she heard the two people."

Another McGee Street resident said "it's getting ridiculous around here.

"I've lived here for nine years and I don't know how many times I've seen police tape. We are all worried. We all have kids."

Katrina said she heard what she now believes are gunshots just 10 minutes before a shooting victim showed up at her door.

"I heard weird pops a couple of seconds apart," she said.

She said the next thing she knew, a man fell against her front window beside her door and collapsed. She immediately phoned 911, called for a neighbour and went to help the man while awaiting emergency crews and police.

Katrina said the man had been shot at the side of his lower abdomen and his thigh.

"I thought, 'Please, God, let me remember the right thing to do,' and I did," she said.

"I would never have walked away -- that would be against everything that I believe and stand for... This shows any individual can make a difference.

"If I can encourage somebody else to help someone, that would be great."

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca

Saturday shootings

SEPT. 22

-- Man shot at Sargent Avenue and Langside Street

-- Man shot in 400 block of Maryland Street

SEPT. 29

-- Two men shot in 600 block of Maryland Street

UPDATE: One of the men shot on Maryland Street has died, as written in the most recent Winnipeg Free Press story. Please see the link above.

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition September 30, 2012 A3