Man, 38, city’s ninth homicide of 2019

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This article was published 16/03/2019 (2179 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winnipeg police are searching for witnesses after a man died following an assault in the heart of the North End early Saturday.

First responders were called to the scene on the 100 block of Salter Street at about 2:40 a.m., after receiving a report that a man had been injured in an assault. The victim was taken to hospital in unstable condition, and later died.

On Sunday, the victim was identified in media reports as 38-year-old John Gabriel.

“We believe the assault would have started and taken place near the intersection of Salter Street and Selkirk Avenue,” said police spokesman Const. Rob Carver.

“The victim, after being assaulted, was able to make his way south down Salter, to the area of the intersection of Stella, where he collapsed.”

A three-block stretch of Salter Street remained closed off by police at noon on Saturday, from Stella to Selkirk avenues.

Winnipeg police forensic investigators were busy at the northern end of the crime scene, photographing what looked like a trail of blood. The bright red spots and numbered evidence markers appeared to begin on the sidewalk in front of a Money Mart at the northwest corner of the intersection of Salter Street and Selkirk Avenue.

The trail appeared to lead across Selkirk to the front of the Robin’s Donuts at the intersection’s southwest corner. Police investigators could also be seen outside an Esso gas station just south of the Robin’s.

Homicide investigators believe multiple witnesses may have been in the area at the time and might have information about the fatal assault, said Carver.

“There’s a 24-hour restaurant near there, as well as some other businesses that could possibly have had people out and about,” he said.

“We’re obviously looking for any information we can find, whether that’s CCTV footage from local businesses, any forensic information we can find.”

The victim suffered upper-body injuries, and a weapon may have been used, Carver said. There’s currently no indication that meth was involved, he noted.

The Winnipeg Police Service Homicide Unit is asking witnesses to call (204) 986-6219, or Crime Stoppers at (204) 786-8477.

The killing is Winnipeg’s ninth homicide of 2019.

solomon.israel@freepress.mb.ca

@sol_israel