STEINBACH -- A double shooting on New Year's Day has left one man dead and another clinging to life in what RCMP are calling an attempted murder followed by a suicide.
A 20-year-old male is listed in critical, but stable, condition in the Health Sciences Centre after he was shot shortly before 7 p.m. in a house on the outskirts of this southeastern Manitoba community.
A police cruiser is parked outside a rental property in the Steinbach area where RCMP say a man shot another man, and then turned the gun on himself.
Shortly after RCMP and paramedics rushed to the scene and entered the house, a 21-year-old man who was inside the house shot himself.
Cpl. Brian Edmonds said on Wednesday that while he doesn't know whether the man shot himself directly in front of RCMP officers and paramedics, he did verify the weapon used was not an RCMP firearm.
Edmonds said names of the men will not be released until today or Friday. The RCMP's major crimes unit is investigating along with the Steinbach detachment.
"With any RCMP-involved shooting, there are specific services offered to members of the RCMP or other persons involved," he said.
"If these members need some sort of support services they will be offered to the members."
John and Sarah Neufeld say house was known to host parties in the past.
Yellow police tape flapping in the stiff wind surrounded the one-and-a-half storey, white-and-green house, on the south side of Hwy. 52 at the east end of the city.
A lone RCMP cruiser parked in the driveway guarded the scene.
A white panel truck was parked beside the residence's side entrance, its rear door open with what appeared to be construction-related materials inside.
Neighbours said the house was rented out to various tenants throughout the years, but the latest ones had only moved in within the last two months.
During a phone call, Vern Pankratz, identified by neighbours as the owner of the house, said he didn't know anything about the shooting.
"They (RCMP) won't let me onto the premises," Pankratz said before refusing to comment further.
Pastor Darrell Dyck, of the Gospel Fellowship Church, located next to the house where the shootings took place, said he had met one of the three males living in the home.
"He came here to use the phone a number of times because he didn't have a phone there," Dyck said.
"If it was him, it would be a big surprise," he added, only saying the man was from a community south of Steinbach.
"I don't think his life was easy, but I didn't picture him doing anything violent."
Dyck said another resident was also from south of Steinbach, while the third male was from Winnipeg.
"It was three typical young guys living together -- I did the same when I was younger."
Neighbour John Neufeld and his wife Sarah said while they had no problem with the current residents -- they had never met them -- the rental house was known for having rowdy parties in the past.
"That house has been a problem forever," John Neufeld said.
"The house is old and shot -- no family will live there. So this doesn't surprise me one bit."
Neufeld said he saw two stretchers going to separate ambulances, with one rushing off with its siren and lights on.
"The other left quietly," he said.
Neufeld also said he saw two people being taken by officers from the house and put into separate police cruisers.
Steinbach Mayor Chris Goertzen said: "We feel for the victims and their families.
"When any tragedy happens, the community realizes how fragile our situation of security is... It's not something that usually happens in Steinbach, but it can happen anywhere."
kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca
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