Pair of Tuesday shootings linked: police

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This article was published 22/03/2023 (1259 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winnipeg police investigators are probing two shootings in the Spence neighbourhood Tuesday they say are linked.

Officers, including armed tactical members, raced to the neighbourhood after numerous calls reported shots fired, police said Wednesday.

Police found a home on the 500 block of Langside Street, near Sargent Avenue, riddled with bullet holes.

Neighbours said Tuesday they have become accustomed to the sound of gunfire and live in fear of gang- and drug-related violence.

One woman and her husband awoke at about 9 a.m. to a barrage of gunfire, estimating at least 10 shots were fired. Both asked their names not be printed out of safety concerns.

“You never know what can happen with stray bullets,” said the woman.

Officers found a home on the 500 block of Maryland Street, a few blocks to the west, which had been damaged by gunfire.

A staff member from nearby John M. King school, who spoke to the Free Press under the condition of anonymity, said children were playing in the schoolyard minutes before the shooting.

The school is behind the Maryland home that was targeted.

Around 9:10 a.m., a parent called to warn there had been a shooting in the area and they would not send their kids to school, the source said.

“We were all safe, but you just don’t feel that way at that moment. If we were outside two minutes later, it could have been a lot different,” they said.

“Had this happened at a school in… a more affluent area, it would be all over the news. There would be an uproar. But if it happens in the inner city, nobody cares.”

Police, a psychologist and a social worker went to the school after the incident.

Police ask anyone with information to call the major crimes unit at 204-986-6219 or Crime Stoppers at 204-786-8477.

— Staff