‘It scared the hell right out of me’: Spence residents wake to gunfire

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This article was published 09/09/2023 (1056 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Residents in the Spence neighbourhood awoke Saturday morning to the sounds of gunfire, with bullets striking at least one home, injuring a man and prompting a significant police response.

Numerous units arrived at the 600 block of Furby Street around 5:40 a.m., after receiving reports of a shooting. Officers located one injured man, who was taken to hospital in stable condition, said Winnipeg Police Service Const. Jason Michalyshen.

“We received multiple reports of shots in the area and we responded… we are just putting all the pieces together now as far as the nature of the incident and the intent,” Michalyshen said. “Obviously, a very urgent situation. We have reports of shots fired, evidence to support a firearms discharge did take place and an injured individual (so) lots going on.”

Michalyshen was not aware of any arrests, noting the major crimes unit is investigating.

Police tape surrounded two houses. One of the homes, a white two-storey at 650 Furby St., appeared to have had its front and rear doors broken open and was peppered with what looked like bullet holes.

The other home, located next door, was also damaged by what looked like a single bullet hole. Residents remained inside to speak with plain-clothes detectives.

Michalyshen said it was too early in the investigation to confirm which of the homes was targeted in the shooting or whether the injured man is believed to be involved or an innocent bystander.

“To say which house he was in, I can’t specify at this point,” he said.

A man living in a nearby rooming house said his roommate rushed into his suite early in the morning to alert him to the gunfire. He estimated at least five shots were fired.

“I was frightened. It scared the hell right out of me,” he said, speaking outside his home.

“I’ve lived in this place for 33 years… I don’t mind it during the day, but at night, no way.”

The Spence neighbourhood logged 194 violent crimes between May 2022 and May 2023. Only the South Point Douglas neighbourhood experienced more of such crimes, WPS data shows.

On Aug. 26, Cory Roger Roulette, 38, was shot and killed inside a nearby apartment building in the 500 block of Furby Street. Another man, Daniel Michael George Cook, 29, was gunned down within the same building late last year.

Anyone with information on the incident is asked to call investigators at 204-986-6219 or Crime Stoppers at 204-786-8477 or submit a tip online at winnipegcrimestoppers.org.

tyler.searle@freepress.mb.ca