A second teen now faces charges in a series of shootings in Winnipeg that left a woman dead on Canada Day.
Police say a 15-year-old boy was arrested on Friday afternoon and is now charged with first-degree murder, two counts of attempting to commit murder as well as aggravated assault and other offences.
A 14-year-old boy already faced one count of first-degree murder in the death of a 27-year-old woman and a slew of shooting charges.
The deceased has been identified as Danielle Dawn Cote of Winnipeg.
Police allege the two boys were present together for three separate incidents, and they say the younger boy now faces additional charges in another, fourth shooting early on July 1 that injured a 17-year-old girl, who was able to get away on foot.
Neither of the two suspects can be named under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, and Const. Jay Murray told reporters Saturday that motives for the shootings aren’t yet known.
“The two suspects we’ve determined were acquaintances, essentially friends with each other, and it’s still immediately unclear what prompted these incidents,” Murray said.
Police have said their investigation began when a 44-year-old man was struck by a vehicle around 2:30 a.m. Wednesday and it was later found he had been shot. He’s in stable condition in hospital.
Less than an hour later Cote and an 18-year-old man were walking along a street when they were shot. The woman died immediately and the man, who police have said was able to make his way to a nearby convenience store, was taken to hospital and is in stable condition.
Police were then called to The Forks, a popular historic and tourist area of the city, around 12:30 a.m. Thursday. A 40-year-old man had been shot and was taken to hospital in stable condition.
Investigators allege the fourth shooting, where only the younger boy is charged, was uncovered during the course of their investigation and happened on Isabel Street early Wednesday in between the first and second incidents.
“With regards to why the 15-year-old wasn’t charged with that incident at Isabel, it’s believed that he had briefly broken away from the 14-year-old and then later met up with him again or soon after,” Murray said.
“So he just wasn’t in that immediate proximity when that shooting happened.”
Police have said a firearm has been recovered and is believed to be the one used in the shootings.
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