Fugitives facing homicide charges in Winnipeg added to Canada’s most-wanted list

Two fugitives who were charged in separate homicides in Winnipeg last year have been added to a charity’s list of Canada’s 25 most-wanted suspects.

Tresor Horimbere is wanted for a fatal shooting at a Waverley Street soccer complex, while Chad Dandan is being sought for the slaying of a man who police say was abducted.

Horimbere is ranked fourth on the Bolo Program’s list; a reward of up to $100,000 has been offered for tips that lead to his arrest. Dandan is seventh on the list.

“I’ve never been part of something with a reward that large,” Winnipeg Police Service homicide unit Sgt. Paul Barber told reporters. “It’s the largest, I believe, even in our service’s history.”

He believes the figure will encourage people to provide information to police.

“The number itself is shocking, and enough that it’s going to cause people to talk,” he said. “Winnipeg is a small town. Somebody is going to have information.”

Attempted murder suspect Yusuf Abdulqadir Ali, who previously ranked 12th, was moved to 17th spot on the list.

“All of these people, given the nature of the offences they are wanted for, are violent offenders who’ve been known to be armed at various times,” Barber said during a virtual call from Vancouver, where the list was unveiled. “We don’t want you to approach them. What we want you to do is to pick up the phone, to contact the police.”

The Bolo Program publicizes cases — using billboards, social media and even online contests — that are submitted by police across Canada. A committee curates the list and ranks the fugitives.

The program was created by the non-profit Stéphan Crétier Foundation in 2018. BOLO is a law enforcement term that stands for “be on the lookout.”

Prior to Wednesday’s update, the list had never featured more than one fugitive who is wanted by Winnipeg police.

Horimbere, 23, is charged with first-degree murder in the fatal shooting of Mohamed Yusuf Abdullahi, 22, in the parking lot of the Ralph Cantafio Soccer Complex on July 13, 2024.

Abdullahi had just competed in a Canada African Cup of Nations match.

“This was an incident, I think, that really struck a nerve in the community,” said Barber, who described the homicide as a “heinous act.”

Police, who described Horimbere and Abdullahi as acquaintances, previously said investigators believe the shooting had drug and potential gang ties.

A second suspect was arrested in February, while a murder charge against a third man was stayed.

Horimbere also has ties to Ottawa and Montreal. He could be anywhere in Canada, according to the Bolo Project.

Horimbere is wanted for alleged gun offences in an unrelated incident in Hawkesbury, Ont., in 2023. Ontario Provincial Police said he was being sought in connection with a robbery.

Dandan, 25, is wanted for first-degree murder, kidnapping and extortion in the killing of Zeyad Vifan Shammo. The 22-year-old victim, from Ontario, was found dead in a home in the 100 block of Bristol Avenue in St. Boniface on Sept. 13, 2024.

Police said in March that Dandan, one of three people charged in the slaying, could be in northern Manitoba. It’s now possible he’s “anywhere” in Western Canada, Barber said.

He said the families of Abdullahi and Shammo want to see the accused killers in court.

“The longer these things go on, the longer it sits in their mind that they may not get that justice they’re hoping they’re going to get,” Barber said.

“We want to make sure programs like this help us amplify our response to be able to bring these people into custody.”

Ali, 29, is accused of shooting two men, aged 29 and 35, at a rooming house on the 100 block of Furby Street on Nov. 25, 2021. Police have said he is gang-affiliated and involved in the drug trade.

Anyone with information about Horimbere, Dandan or Ali’s whereabouts is asked to call the police service’s confidential 24-7 tip line at 431-334-9160.

Bolo Program director Max Langlois said police have arrested 42 of 78 fugitives who’ve been featured since 2018. Some were recently arrested in the U.S., Italy and Oman.

One thing that cannot be measured is the number of crimes that have been prevented thanks to the arrests, Langlois said.

“These dangerous individuals are somewhere among us right now,” he said during a news conference in Vancouver. “Still they will remain — this afternoon, tonight, tomorrow and next week — if we don’t do something.”

He was flanked by police officers who posed as models of the fugitives. Each officer wore a cutout of a fugitive’s face.

The Bolo Program’s website shows mugshots of the fugitives. Artificial intelligence was used to make their heads move and eyes blink.

chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca