‘We’re scared to death’

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This article was published 20/02/2025 (198 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Outside her bungalow on Manitoba Avenue, a Winnipeg woman runs her fingers over a pair of bullet holes in the front window, historic marks of a neighbourhood that’s no stranger to gunfire.

The woman, who spoke to the Free Press on condition of anonymity, witnessed a brazen, daytime shooting on Wednesday afternoon that injured one person and put another in handcuffs.

She has lived in the William Whyte neighbourhood for 61 years. While the area has always had problems, she and other residents increasingly live in fear, she said.

“Those (bullet holes) aren’t from this incident, but there are many here. Pick a day. There are probably more days where there are incidents than not,” she said.

“All of us have bullet holes… We’re scared to death.”

The apparent target of the shooting was a duplex at 633 Manitoba Ave. The woman said she heard rounds go off and raced to her window. She saw several people approach the house.

“I could see one of them had a gun, I knew something was going on,” said the woman, who described running to hide in the bathroom until the shooting stopped.

“I know that sounds bad, but I can’t tell you how many times we’ve had to hit the floor here.”

The Winnipeg Police Service confirmed officers responded to the area of Manitoba Avenue and McKenzie Street around 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday after receiving reports about a shooting.

One person was taken to hospital in unstable condition and was later upgraded to stable. Officers took a suspect into custody, police said.

The police service did not provide information about the injured person or suspect, such as age or gender.

The major crimes unit has taken over the investigation.

Police confirmed investigators are aware of a video of the incident, captured by another witness. It was circulating on social media and had garnered nearly 900,000 views by Thursday afternoon.

Tre Delaronde said he recorded the footage from the window of his home after hearing people shout obscenities and threats outside.

“This is what we see every day and deal with every day in this neighbourhood,” Delaronde said. “We need to document this to show people we have a serious problem within the poverty side of the city, meaning the ‘hood. Innocent bystanders could get shot.”

The video shows two people, including one who has a long firearm, approaching the southeast corner of Manitoba and McKenzie.

The armed person sprints eastbound on Manitoba out of view of the camera, while the second person stays behind.

At least four shots are heard in the first 43 seconds of the video. After about a minute, four people — two carrying firearms — run back to the Manitoba and McKenzie intersection. One person appears to be limping and is helped by another person.

One of the armed people fires a final shot near the end of the video. The recoil causes them to drop the weapon into the snow, and they scramble to pick it up before fleeing.

Several motorists and pedestrians pass by as the shooting occurs, the video shows.

On Thursday, scraps of police tape, shattered glass and an array of shotgun pellets embedded in the duplex storm door are lingering signs of the violence.

Delaronde said crime and safety are constant concerns in the North End, and the problem has increased in recent years.

The duplex where the shooting occurred is less than 200 metres from the nursery-to-Grade 6 Strathcona School, he noted.

“I just can’t believe where we are at now,” Darrell Warren, president of the William Whyte Neighbourhood Association said by phone Thursday.

“A lot of people are to the point here where they are almost ready to give up… People in general are afraid to go out in their yards and stuff because you might get a stray bullet coming through the fence.”

Warren, who has lived in the neighbourhood for more than six decades, referenced a shooting on Saturday that killed two people at a home in the 300 block of Alfred Avenue, about a kilometre east of where the latest incident occurred.

He said people feel helpless against the threat of gangs and gun violence, which have reached untenable levels.

The community leader has applied for provincial funding through the Criminal Property Forfeiture Fund, to pay for an anonymous tip line that would allow residents to report crimes without fear of retaliation.

“It just shows you how much this is needed, and how out of control it is,” he said about Wednesday’s shooting.

Mynarski Coun. Ross Eadie said he, too, is concerned about the number of gangs, guns and drugs in the area.

He frequently fields phone calls from business operators and homeowners seeking support for the problem, he said.

“I’m at a loss, just like the residents are,” Eadie said. “If somebody in that area knows of a house and there is a problem and they are afraid, they can call me… I can, and I do, let the (police) inspector know in the area, and I tell them what my expectations are.”

Police asked anyone with information about Wednesday’s shooting to call investigators at 204-986-6219 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 204-786-8477 (TIPS).

tyler.searle@freepress.mb.ca