‘Gang situation brewing’: String of shootings prompts warning from Winnipeg police

Winnipeg police a string of recent shootings may be connected to a gang war in the city. Alexandra Holyk reports.

Winnipeg police say a string of shootings in Winnipeg over the last few days could be the result of a rising gang conflict.

Winnipeg Police Service Insp. Elton Hall told a city committee Tuesday that north district officers responded to three shootings in the last 10 to 12 days.

“It appears we have a gang situation brewing,” he told the committee.

Hall said one of the gang-related incidents was a brazen daytime shooting near Manitoba Avenue and McKenzie Street just last week.

The guns and gangs unit was notified. Officers arrested four people on Sunday night. They are suspected gang members, Hall said, and had four firearms, two of which were loaded.

Four more people were arrested Monday night on Selkirk Avenue. Two loaded firearms were found. Hall said two of the four people are also suspected gang members.

“During the arrest, one of the individuals who was arrested said that they were part of a gang and there’s going to be a gang war,” Hall told CTV News Winnipeg.

“In saying that, we hear that quite a bit, so I’m not overly concerned.”

While Hall believes the activity may be linked to the drug trade, he said there’s a variety of reasons behind the violence.

He added the firearms seized likely came across the United States border and wound up on Winnipeg streets.

“During my time in the organized crime unit, every year this went up exponentially – trafficked guns from the United States, always handguns, generally Glocks or 9 mm handguns,” he said.

“They sell very quickly in Winnipeg, and they go for usually quite a bit of money. It’s unfortunately the gun of choice for people on the street.”

Coun. Ross Eadie (Mynarski) said he isn’t surprised by the escalating violence, noting his ward has seen gang conflicts like this in the past.

Police are carrying out gang suppression work, he said, like cracking down on homes trafficking guns and drugs.

He notes there are agencies working on the ground to prevent youth from joining gangs and helping them to leave them. Eadie wants the city to spend more on programming and community services to help bolster this work.

“What we need to do is that prevention part, where there needs to be a lot more money spent.”

- With files from CTV’s Alexandra Holyk