Shootings linked, suspect sought

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This article was published 25/04/2023 (867 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Two shootings in March that left a woman dead and six others injured are related, and one of the suspects is considered armed and dangerous, city police said Tuesday.

Homicide investigators are searching for Martin Faruq Luther, an 18-year-old Winnipeg man they suspect was involved in the March 7 shootings.

Police have issued a second-degree murder warrant for Luther’s arrest. He is described as Black, five-feet-11, with a thin build.

Luther is believed to still be in Winnipeg, Winnipeg Police Service spokesman Const. Claude Chancy said. Homicide detectives have not confirmed whether the shootings are gang-related.

Police arrested a 17-year-old boy they linked to the shootings on April 13.

Police found Lori Gordon, 49, and another woman who had been shot in a lane behind the 400 block of Beverley Street March 7 at about 6 a.m.

Gordon was dead, while the other woman was transported to hospital and later upgraded to stable condition.

A neighbour said at the time he woke to several loud bangs at 5:15 a.m., before seeing police in the lane when he got up for work at at about 6:30 a.m.

Earlier, at about 2:15 a.m., officers went the 600 block of Spence Street after a quadruple shooting. Four men — two in their 20s and two in their 30s — were taken to hospital in unstable condition.

Three were upgraded to stable, while the fourth remained in guarded condition, police said March 7.

Three of the victims were found in a ground-floor suite of a Spence Street apartment, while a third was found nearby.

A neighbour in the apartment building said at the time he was up watching television and heard a noise he didn’t think much of, before hearing emergency sirens and seeing police rushing to the building about 15 minutes later.

The 17-year-old suspect has been charged with second-degree murder, five counts of attempted murder, five counts of aggravated assault, possession of a prohibited or restricted firearm with ammunition and discharge of a firearm with intent. The teen was detained in custody.

Police have asked people with information about Luther’s whereabouts to call homicide investigators at 204-986-6508, Crime Stoppers at 204-786-8477, or 911. Police advise against approaching Luther.

Luther has not been previously convicted of any crimes in Manitoba, court records show.

However, he has active charges that were laid in Portage la Prairie last year, just weeks after he became an adult on Aug. 20, 2022.

Luther is alleged to have failed to comply with the condition of a release order, specifically a court-ordered curfew, and unlawfully escaped from custody on Sept. 5 that year.

Those charges are scheduled to be heard in court in Portage la Prairie Sept. 28 this year.

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com

erik.pindera@winnipegfreepress.com