Three people were killed and two more were critically injured after a shooting in Winnipeg, Canada on Sunday morning.
According to the Winnipeg Police Service, officers responded to a call about multiple people injured at a building in the 100 block of Langside Street at around 4:05 a.m. on Nov. 26. Upon arriving on the scene, about a mile-and-a-half west of the city’s downtown, responding officers found five people with “injuries consistent with being shot.”
The responding authorities pronounced an adult male and an adult female dead at the scene, and authorities transported three additional victims to a hospital in critical condition. One additional adult male succumbed to his injuries after being hospitalized and Winnipeg Police Service said the other two victims—one adult male and one adult female—remain hospitalized in critical condition.
The Winnipeg Police Service has not identified the shooting victims at this time.
In a Monday morning update, Winnipeg City Police Constable Jason Michalyshen told the Canadian Press that the investigation is in its early stages. He said the shooting attack appeared to have taken place across multiple suites in the same building, and that investigators cannot yet say how the victims may be connected to one another.
Authorities have yet to announce any arrests or persons of interest in the attack. They have also not put forth a possible motive or determined whether the shooting was gang-related.
In a Sunday afternoon statement, Winnipeg Mayor Scott Gillingham expressed his sympathies for the victims of the “shocking and disturbing” shooting and their family members.
“Acts of violence like this are a troubling reminder that there is still too much violent crime, and too much gun-related crime in our city,” the Winnipeg mayor said. “It’s critical we work with the provincial and federal governments and community partners to strengthen our approach to public safety.
“I want to thank our police, paramedics, and firefighters who attended the scene. Their professionalism and courage while dealing with a truly traumatic situation is commendable. I acknowledge the lasting impact attending such scenes can have on their lives.”
Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew also condemned the shooting as a “terrible act of violence” in a statement on Sunday. He further called on Canadian justice minister Arif Virani to work with Winnipeg city authorities “to strengthen our shared approach to public safety.”
The Winnipeg shooting comes just over a month after a man in the northern Ontario city of Sault Ste. Marie fatally shot the mother of his children at one residence before going to another residence where he fatally shot his three children, injured another woman, and then turned the gun on himself and took his own life.
Court documents revealed the suspect in the Sault Ste. Marie shooting, Bobbie Hallaert, had a prior criminal record including a 2019 charge for assaulting a local police officer, but received a conditional release with a 12-month order to keep the peace, refrain from possessing any weapons, and participate in alcohol abuse counseling. Sault Ste. Marie Police Chief Hugh Stevenson said police responded to a domestic violence call from one of the two homes involved in the shooting just one day before the attack took place.
A wedding reception at the Infinity Convention Centre in Ottawa also became the scene of a mass shooting on Sept. 2 that left two men dead and six additional people injured. More than a month after the shooting, wedding guests told CBC News they still had few answers about the shooting attack. Investigators have yet to identify a suspect in that incident.