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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

Teen killing was gang-related, police say

Victim allegedly M.O.B. member

By: Aldo Santin

Posted: 09/11/2012 1:00 AM

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Paris Bruce, 16, died Sept. 7. (FAMILY PHOTO)

GANG violence is believed to be responsible for the death of a 16-year-old North End boy.

Winnipeg police said the youth, who was badly beaten during an attack on Aberdeen Avenue on Sept. 4, died from his injuries on Sept. 7. Family members confirmed the identity of the youth as Paris Rene Cameron Bruce.

Police said Bruce was involved in a street gang and it's possible his attackers were members of a rival gang.

A source said Bruce was a member of M.O.B., a gang based in the North End and Point Douglas that has been feuding with the Indian Posse.

But police also said it's possible Bruce was the victim of an internal dispute that has seen the emergence of a splinter gang known as 334. News reports have stated M.O.B. is imploding and feuding members have been attacking each other for the last few weeks.

A family spokesman described Bruce as "happy, easy-going, gentle, loving. He was always smiling. He had a great sense of humour. He was funny and always joking.

"He was a smart boy," the family spokesman said. "He loved worldly news, he loved knowing what was going on around him."

The spokesman said the family had no information about the incident that led to his death and knew nothing about his alleged involvement with a street gang.

An obituary notice says Bruce had many nicknames but was best known as Parrot, a monicker given to him by his grandmother.

"Once he learned how to talk, there was no stopping him," states the obituary provided to the Free Press. "He had many stories and shared them like a parrot. He was a colourful boy who always had a smile on his face. Just being around him would bring one to yours, too." The funeral service is Friday at 1 p.m. at Cropo Funeral Chapel.

Police spokesman Const. Jason Michalyshen said there have been no arrests. It's possible the attackers used weapons, he said, adding police are waiting for autopsy results.

Police responded to a call of an assault at 8 a.m. Sept. 4 and found Bruce lying on the street in the 300 block of Aberdeen Avenue, Michalyshen said. He was taken to hospital in critical condition.

"Given the nature of the incident and the seriousness of the injuries, the attack was obviously brought to the attention of anybody in that area," Michalyshen said.

The feuding within M.O.B. became public on July 17, with the shooting of a 15-year-old boy outside a gang hangout on Burrows Avenue.

Police believe two other shootings are linked to the internal dispute: A 25-year-old man was shot and seriously injured Aug. 4 outside an Alexander Avenue home, and a teenage boy was shot Aug. 16 after a group of people forced their way into an Aberdeen Avenue house.

Anyone with information about the Sept. 4 attack should call police at 204-986-7983 or Crime Stoppers at 204-786-8477.

-- with files from Mike McIntyre

aldo.santin@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition September 11, 2012 0