Winnipeg police say feud between gangs led to Citizen nightclub killing, retaliation homicide

Winnipeg police say a young man shot and killed at a South Pointe neighbourhood townhouse last November was responsible for a fatal nightclub shooting just days before.

Rig Debak Moulebou was found shot and killed at a townhouse in the South Pointe neighbourhood on Nov. 4.

At the time, police said Moulebou’s death was gang-related.

At a Tuesday afternoon press conference, Const. Jay Murray said Moulebou was killed in retaliation for the shooting death of Jamshaid Wahabi, 23, who was found dead at the scene of a shooting at Citizen Nightclub on Bannatyne Avenue on Nov. 2.

“Both homicides, along with continued violence in Winnipeg, are the result of a feud between two gangs,” said Murray.

“If Moulebou was still alive, he would have been charged with a form of homicide.”

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Wahabi was shot multiple times in the shooting, which started in the nightclub before spilling out into the street around 1:30 a.m. Another man was shot in the lower body but survived.

Wahabi was the city’s 38th killing of the year and Moulebou’s death was the 40th of 2019, a year that saw a record-breaking 44 homicides in the city.

Ongoing gang violence

Murray said the fighting between the two gangs that led to the killings has continued.

“Beyond the scope of these two homicides, there’s been shootings, there’s been other types of violence,” he said.

“Currently, these two groups are feuding (and) a lot of the members in these groups are transient — they switch their allegiances perhaps overnight.

“It can be very dynamic but there is certainly a level of increased violence that we’ve seen from these groups since the first homicide.”

Murray wouldn’t say which gangs the two men were part of, but did say both groups are made up primarily of newcomers to Canada.

“Many of these individuals have come from war-torn countries and they’ve been a source of violence in Winnipeg,” he said.

Newcomers can be more vulnerable to joining a gang, especially when they come from a country with violence and instability, he said.

0:34 Winnipeg police say retaliation is a concern after two men killed in gang feud

Winnipeg police have anti-gang strategies and are working with community groups to try to combat the problem.

Police had previously made one arrest in connection with Moulebou’s death, but two further arrests have since been made.

Arnold Mbaka Nduta, 23, of Winnipeg, was charged with first-degree murder on Jan. 22.

Police said Tuesday that Abdullahi Abdulrehman Mohamed, 23, was arrested on Feb 28 and Manuchehr Haroon, 23, was arrested in Brandon, Man., Monday.

Both Mohamed and Haroon are also charged with first-degree murder in connection with Moulebou’s killing.

Homicide detectives are also looking for information about a black truck and a black Mercedes crossover seen in the area where Moulebou was killed in the 100 block of Tim Sale Drive on Nov. 4.

Anyone with information is asked to call police at 204-986-6508 or Crime Stoppers at 204-786-TIPS.

–With files from The Canadian Press

4:09 Criminologist on 2019 homicide count