Man arrested for after-hours Osborne Village nightclub shooting

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This article was published 06/03/2025 (552 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A man has been charged after a shooting that happened inside an Osborne Village nightclub after hours.

The incident happened at Moonlight Lounge at 108 Osborne St. at about 4:15 a.m. on Feb. 6.

Lester Valdez, 29, who later spoke with the Free Press, was rushed to hospital and underwent emergency surgery to have a bullet removed from his spine.

The suspect fled before police arrived. The Winnipeg Police Service said Thursday that major crimes unit investigators determined members of two groups became involved in an argument that turned physical before the shooting.

Officers found a suspect in the area of Cheriton Avenue and Rothesay Street on Feb. 11 and arrested him, the WPS said. Samuel Akuok Mayen, 33, of Winnipeg has been charged with aggravated assault and assault. He was detained in custody.

The 48-year-old owner of the lounge was arrested and faces a charge of obstruction. He was released on an appearance notice.

Valdez, who works as a coach at the Taylor Tennis Club, previously described hearing two men arguing with two women inside the club. When he and his friend tried to break up the argument, a scuffle ensued. He has a bullet hole on his right side and some stitches on his lower back, where surgeons inserted and fused two steel rods to his spine.

The lounge’s liquor licence was revoked Feb. 13.

This is not the first time Mayen has been arrested in connection with a shooting. Mayen, whose criminal record includes convictions for assault and firearms offences, was acquitted in 2023 of attempted murder for the shooting of a man at a Sherbrook Street home.

Court heard the victim had known Mayen since they were teenagers in Africa. He testified he answered a knock at his door when a masked man he identified as Mayen shot him in the neck and ran away.

The victim suffered a traumatic brain injury, which provincial court Judge David Mann said compromised his recall of key events, leaving Mann unable to rely on his identification of Mayen as the shooter. Security video from across the street showed a silhouette of a person approaching and leaving the house.

In 2015, Mayen was sentenced to 15 months in custody after being convicted for the second time of harassing his ex-girlfriend.

Court heard Mayen, then 23, had just finished a lengthy sentence for stalking the woman in December 2013 when he started bombarding her with as many as 50 phone calls a day.

Mayen, a Kenyan-born refugee, was subject to possible deportation proceedings because of the convictions, court was told at the time.

“The fact of the matter is, there is no relationship between you and (the victim),” Justice Doug Abra told Mayen. “Get on with your life, stay out of trouble, and maybe you will be able to stay here.”

On Thursday, the WPS again asked anyone with information about the Moonlight Lounge shooting to contact investigators at 204-986-6219, or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 204-786-8477 (TIPS) or online.

fpcity@freepress.mb.ca