‘I’m just glad I’m alive’: Winnipeg man concerned about neighbourhood safety following shooting

A Winnipeg man is grateful to be alive after he was shot outside his Elmwood neighbourhood home early Thursday morning.

Joshua Carpenter says he went for a walk around 1 a.m. Thursday to stretch out a leg cramp when he noticed a suspicious group of people outside his work truck in the 200 block of Poplar Avenue.

“I was walking around this work truck here and a couple guys just popped up from the side of it and as we strolled down the road together, me in the middle of the road and them on the sidewalk,” Carpenter told Global News.

“We walked past a couple vehicles and I turned around and stopped and pulled out a cigarette and my phone, and as I got on that, the guy on the sidewalk started shooting at me.”

Carpenter was shot in his hip and hamstring.

“I got hit once and had to look down to see what the hell I got hit by cause it didn’t feel like a bullet, it stung like a paintball. And then I realized it was a bullet and it went right through.”

He says the suspects sped off in a vehicle with no lights on. He tried to get photos of the vehicle before going home and calling 911. He was rushed to hospital in stable condition and is now recovering at home.

Carpenter says this isn’t the first time they’ve experienced crime in the neighbourhood. He has young children and says his family is now looking for another, safer neighbourhood to move to.

“It’s kind of typical at least a couple times a year to have somebody snooping through something,” he said. “But this year’s been 10 times worse than we’ve ever had.”

The Winnipeg Police Service is asking anyone with information on this incident to contact them or Crime Stoppers.