‘Worse than anything I’ve ever seen’: Winnipeg edges closer to homicide record

Winnipeg is edging closer to breaking its annual homicide record after a weekend filled with violence.

On Friday morning, a 16-year-old boy was killed on Balmoral Street near Sargent Avenue.

Less than 48 hours later, a 27-year-old man died after being found unresponsive near Cumberland Avenue and Sherbrook Street.

Then on Monday, Winnipeg police released details of 41-year-old Melissa Cook, who died in August from severe burns to her body.

In the same weekend, the city learned about its 39th, 40th, and 41st homicide of the year.

“As a Winnipegger, as a community member, I’m very, very concerned,” said outreach worker Mitch Bourbonniere.

“One murder is too many, never mind 41, never mind with three months to go yet in the year.”

That homicide number is now just three away from tying the record 44 homicides in one year set in 2019.
Bourbonniere says there’s definitely a spike from recent years and hopes this does not become a new trend.

“I think there’s a lot of mental-health concerns out there, a lot of isolation, a lot of pandemic post trauma. People are struggling. I’m worried about our community.”

Bourbonniere says poverty rates, homelessness, addiction and mental-health concerns are on the rise and cites the need for more funding and services to be made available to help the most vulnerable out.

Kent Dueck, the executive director of Inner City Youth Alive, says the use of drugs is growing in Winnipeg and is leading to a rise in overdose deaths. He says the next mayor of Winnipeg is going to have to take a hard look at the situation.

“It’s an existential problem,” said Dueck. “It’s deeper than just as simple as something you can paper over. We have to address all of the things that people in the community are feeling as they walk through the community.

“I’ve been in the community for 37 years and I would say it’s 10 times worse than anything I’ve ever seen. We have to have a sober, serious conversation about our problems, and we have to be courageous to do that.”

On Monday, Justice Minister Kelvin Goertzen was asked about the rising homicide numbers. He says he is not only concerned about homicide, but every violent crime that occurs in Winnipeg.

“Every crime is important to us,” he said. “Every time I hear about someone who had a home invasion, or someone who has been a victim of assault, that’s a concern, because that individual is going to live with the repercussions of that personally for a very long time. We will focus on crime generally for every person who is impacted by it.”

Bourbonniere says it’s important for the public to understand the homicide rates aren’t just numbers, but they are people who have died and families that are grieving.

“It hurts the community, it reverberates the community,” said Bourbonniere. “We are a small enough community that often, everybody knows everybody, and we share the grief with those families. My heart goes out to everyone of those 41 families, those 41 human beings.”