WINNIPEG — Winnipeg police are investigating a shooting in the parking lot of a soccer complex that left a 22-year-old man dead.
Police say they were called to the scene late Saturday night, after the final game of the Canada African Cup of Nations soccer tournament, and found a man with gunshot wounds.
"He was just exiting through the parking lot, I imagine with a number of other people ... there and the shooting occurred," Const. Dani McKinnon, a spokesperson for the Winnipeg Police Service, told reporters Monday.
The victim, identified as Mohamed Yusuf Abdullahi, of Winnipeg, was taken to hospital and died. He was a player in the tournament.
Police believe he was specifically targeted but the shooting was not directly connected to the soccer event. No other players or spectators were injured.
"This (shooting) does not appear to be related to the soccer event itself, or any of the participants in the event, or any of the community members who attended the event," McKinnon said.
"And because of that initial information that we said we do have a little bit of, we really do believe that it's targeted and not random."
Police had talked to witnesses and were asking for more help from the public, including the estimated 100 spectators at the tournament. Police were looking for a male suspect but had not made any arrests,
A tournament organizer called the shooting a senseless act of violence.
"The community is struggling to process this irreparable loss and painful trauma," Gode Katembo, a member of the tournament's executive board, wrote in a statement.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 15, 2024
The Canadian Press
