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K9kazoo
01-03-2008, 09:42 AM
Double shooting leaves man dead
Steinbach-area tragedy leaves victim clinging to life in hospital

By Kevin Rollason
Winnipeg Free Press
03.02.08

http://www.esmmb.ca/mb_board/2008/January/Steinbach_Shooting_0001.jpg
Kevin Rollason / Winnipeg Free Press
A police cruiser is parked outside a rental property in the Steinbach area where RCMP say a man shot another man, and then turned
the gun on himself.

STEINBACH -- A double shooting on New Year's Day has left one man dead and another clinging to life in what RCMP are calling an attempted murder followed by a suicide.

A 20-year-old male is listed in critical, but stable, condition in the Health Sciences Centre after he was shot shortly before 7 p.m. in a house on the outskirts of this southeastern Manitoba community.

Shortly after RCMP and paramedics rushed to the scene and entered the house, a 21-year-old man who was inside the house shot himself.

Cpl. Brian Edmonds said on Wednesday that while he doesn't know whether the man shot himself directly in front of RCMP officers and paramedics, he did verify the weapon used was not an RCMP firearm.

Edmonds said names of the men will not be released until today or Friday. The RCMP's major crimes unit is investigating along with the Steinbach detachment.

"With any RCMP-involved shooting, there are specific services offered to members of the RCMP or other persons involved," he said.

"If these members need some sort of support services they will be offered to the members."

Yellow police tape flapping in the stiff wind surrounded the one-and-a-half storey, white-and-green house, on the south side of Hwy. 52 at the east end of the city.

A lone RCMP cruiser parked in the driveway guarded the scene.

A white panel truck was parked beside the residence's side entrance, its rear door open with what appeared to be construction-related materials inside.

Neighbours said the house was rented out to various tenants throughout the years, but the latest ones had only moved in within the last two months.

During a phone call, Vern Pankratz, identified by neighbours as the owner of the house, said he didn't know anything about the shooting.

"They (RCMP) won't let me onto the premises," Pankratz said before refusing to comment further.

Pastor Darrell Dyck, of the Gospel Fellowship Church, located next to the house where the shootings took place, said he had met one of the three males living in the home.

"He came here to use the phone a number of times because he didn't have a phone there," Dyck said.

"If it was him, it would be a big surprise," he added, only saying the man was from a community south of Steinbach.

"I don't think his life was easy, but I didn't picture him doing anything violent."

Dyck said another resident was also from south of Steinbach, while the third male was from Winnipeg.

"It was three typical young guys living together -- I did the same when I was younger."

Neighbour John Neufeld and his wife Sarah said while they had no problem with the current residents -- they had never met them -- the rental house was known for having rowdy parties in the past.

"That house has been a problem forever," John Neufeld said.

"The house is old and shot -- no family will live there. So this doesn't surprise me one bit."

Neufeld said he saw two stretchers going to separate ambulances, with one rushing off with its siren and lights on.

"The other left quietly," he said.

Neufeld also said he saw two people being taken by officers from the house and put into separate police cruisers.

Steinbach Mayor Chris Goertzen said: "We feel for the victims and their families.

"When any tragedy happens, the community realizes how fragile our situation of security is... It's not something that usually happens in Steinbach, but it can happen anywhere."til today or Friday. The RCMP's major crimes unit is investigating along with the Steinbach detachment.

"With any RCMP-involved shooting, there are specific services offered to members of the RCMP or other persons involved," he said.

"If these members need some sort of support services they will be offered to the members."

Yellow police tape flapping in the stiff wind surrounded the one-and-a-half storey, white-and-green house, on the south side of Hwy. 52 at the east end of the city.

A lone RCMP cruiser parked in the driveway guarded the scene.

A white panel truck was parked beside the residence's side entrance, its rear door open with what appeared to be construction-related materials inside.

Neighbours said the house was rented out to various tenants throughout the years, but the latest ones had only moved in within the last two months.

During a phone call, Vern Pankratz, identified by neighbours as the owner of the house, said he didn't know anything about the shooting.

"They (RCMP) won't let me onto the premises," Pankratz said before refusing to comment further.

Pastor Darrell Dyck, of the Gospel Fellowship Church, located next to the house where the shootings took place, said he had met one of the three males living in the home.

"He came here to use the phone a number of times because he didn't have a phone there," Dyck said.

"If it was him, it would be a big surprise," he added, only saying the man was from a community south of Steinbach.

"I don't think his life was easy, but I didn't picture him doing anything violent."

Dyck said another resident was also from south of Steinbach, while the third male was from Winnipeg.

"It was three typical young guys living together -- I did the same when I was younger."

Neighbour John Neufeld and his wife Sarah said while they had no problem with the current residents -- they had never met them -- the rental house was known for having rowdy parties in the past.

"That house has been a problem forever," John Neufeld said.

"The house is old and shot -- no family will live there. So this doesn't surprise me one bit."

Neufeld said he saw two stretchers going to separate ambulances, with one rushing off with its siren and lights on.

"The other left quietly," he said.

Neufeld also said he saw two people being taken by officers from the house and put into separate police cruisers.

Steinbach Mayor Chris Goertzen said: "We feel for the victims and their families.

"When any tragedy happens, the community realizes how fragile our situation of security is... It's not something that usually happens in Steinbach, but it can happen anywhere."

K9kazoo
01-03-2008, 09:43 AM
Man slays self in front of cops, another wounded

By JULIE HORBAL
Sun Media
Winnipeg Sun
03.01.08

One man is dead and another critically wounded following what RCMP say was an attempted murder and suicide on New Year's Day.

Officers were called to a home in the eastern corner of Steinbach around 6:45 p.m. Tuesday after reports a man had been shot. While emergency crews worked on the 20-year-old victim, a second man who was also in the house grabbed a gun and turned it on himself in front of EMS personnel and police, RCMP said yesterday.

The second man, a 21-year-old, was pronounced dead at the scene.

The initial victim went to Steinbach Bethesda Hospital and was later transferred to Health Sciences Centre in Winnipeg. He remained in critical but stable condition last night, RCMP said.

Cpl. Brian Edmonds, an RCMP spokesman, said it isn't clear whether the second man was the original shooter or whether emergency responders knew the danger they were walking into when they arrived at the scene.

"With any particular incident, officer safety is always paramount," Edmonds told Sun Media. "I don't know if they were aware there was a firearm in the residence."

Edmonds said he also didn't know whether both men lived in the home -- located on Main Street near the outskirts of town -- or what the relationship between them was.

A neighbour, however, said at least four men were at the residence when the incident occurred.

'LOTS OF SIRENS'

"We saw lots of sirens and flashing lights and saw two people be taken into custody," John Neufeld, who lives directly west of the home, told Sun Media yesterday. "We saw two other people leaving the place in stretchers and go into ambulances. They ran away with one and went very slow with the other."

Edmonds said he didn't know of anyone was taken into custody.

Neufeld doesn't know the occupants of the house, but said at least two men moved into the rental property no more than two months ago.

He said at least one young man who lived at the house worked in the carpentry field and left with a truck full of tools for "three, four or five days at a time."

"I didn't do much sleeping (Tuesday night) because I didn't know what was going on," Neufeld said. "I sort of settled down once they started hauling bodies away. Then the tale was told."

RCMP continue to investigate.