Fatally shot teen’s mother asks witnesses to step forward
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The family of a 15-year-old Winnipeg boy killed in a shooting is demanding justice and pleading for people with information about the unsolved homicide to come forward.
Police were called to the 200 block of Amherst Street in St. James, after Phoenix Thompson was fatally shot and his 17-year-old brother wounded at about 1 a.m. Monday.
No arrests have been announced.
SUPPLIED
Phoenix Thompson, 15, died in a shooting in the 200 block of Amherst Street in St. James earlier this week.
Phoenix’s parents, Crystal Desjarlais and Richard Thompson, and his aunt, Crystal Genaille, issued a plea Wednesday for witnesses or anyone with details about the suspect or suspects to speak to police.
“He was the youngest out of four kids. He has two brothers and one sister, and if anyone knows anything about what happened to Phoenix please come forward,” Genaille wrote in a statement to the Free Press. “He had a long life ahead of him. Please, say anything if you know anything about what happened that night.
“Phoenix was taken from us. We all love him so much.”
Desjarlais and Thompson described their son as an outgoing student who enjoyed going to school and playing video games.
“He loved his family and his girlfriend,” the pair wrote. “Learning how to drive was something he was looking forward to. He loved his brother. That was his best friend.”
Phoenix died after being taken to hospital in critical condition from the scene.
His injured brother was initially in unstable condition, but was later upgraded to stable.
Phoenix’s godmother, Rolanda Thompson, has said the brothers were chased during the incident.
“Phoenix is a good kid, he didn’t deserve what happened to him,” she told the Free Press via Facebook Messenger. “They’re both innocent kids that got caught up in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
A bullet hole was visible in a front window at a home just south of Bruce Avenue. Blood appeared to be on an exterior wall next to the front door.
Police did not release details about what happened before the shooting nor any information about the suspect or suspects.
“We can say that this incident does not appear to be a random, but we do not have new updates to provide regarding this investigation at this time,” spokeswoman Const. Dani McKinnon wrote in an email Wednesday.
Police also did not confirm whether a crime scene on the 300 block of Sackville Street, a block west of Amherst, was connected to the homicide.
A car and a minivan that collided were within a police cordon on Sackville.
A neighbour said Phoenix and his brother were “good young kids,” while another often saw them playing basketball behind the home on Amherst where they lived with their father.
The brothers went to school in St. James.
MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS
Police were called to the 200 block of Amherst Street in St. James, after Phoenix Thompson was fatally shot and his 17-year-old brother wounded at about 1 a.m. Monday.
“While we can’t comment on an ongoing police investigation, we can say that we are devastated by this news,” Jenness Moffatt, acting superintendent of the St. James-Assiniboia School Division, said in a statement. “Our hearts go out to the families of the victims involved.
“At this time, we have also reached out to families involved to offer our support. We are also assessing the needs of students that may have known the victims and require wrap-around supports.”
Moffatt said clinicians are available to help any students or staff who may need additional support.
“We strongly encourage them to talk to a trusted teacher, guidance counsellor, or school administrator so we can connect them to further supports,” she said.
Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call the homicide unit at 204-986-6508 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 204-786-8477.
Phoenix is the youngest of Winnipeg’s seven homicide victims in 2023.
City police said they are seeing an increase gun-related crimes involving youth as victims and suspects.
Including Monday’s incident, three shootings left two people dead and six injured in Winnipeg in a span of less than 30 hours.
Lori Gordon, 49, was killed in a shooting in the 400 block of Beverley Street at about 6 a.m. Tuesday. A 35-year-old woman was wounded.
Four men were injured when they were shot at Spence Street and Cumberland Avenue shortly after 2 a.m. Tuesday.
chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca
Twitter: @chriskitching
Chris Kitching
Reporter
As a general assignment reporter, Chris covers a little bit of everything for the Free Press.
