TEENAGE BOY SHOT IN LEG IN SUSPECTED DRUG HOUSE

Police Seek Pair In North End Confrontation

A wave of gun crime in Winnipeg continued yesterday when a 16-year-old
boy was shot in the leg at a suspected drug house in the city's North
End.

Police took a half-dozen people away for questioning, and the police
gang unit was searching for two suspects.

The shooting happened shortly after 1 p.m. at a rooming house on
Manitoba Avenue at Powers Street.

Officials at the scene said the youth was confronted inside a suite,
then shot in the leg. He was taken to Children's Hospital in stable
condition.

Witnesses said the two suspects ran north on Powers and down a back
lane. A police service dog tried to track them but lost their scent.

"We've been here before," an officer at the scene said. "There are
always people milling about." Police spokesman Sgt. Kelly Dennison
said yesterday the investigation has just begun and there were no
descriptions of the suspects available yet.

The shooting happened across the street from the Living Word Temple. A
number of Bible students from rural Manitoba were at the church when
police and paramedics arrived.

A spokeswoman for the wide-eyed group of male and female students said
they were inside when the shooting happened and came out only at the
sound of the sirens.

Residents contacted afterwards, as well as police, said the house is
well-known for alleged criminal activity.

The shooting is the latest in which suspected street-gang members are
using firearms to settle disputes.

In 2004, 10 of the year's record 34 homicides involved a firearm. This
year, one of three homicides involved a gun -- the apparently
accidental death on Feb. 4 of a 15-year-old boy hit by a shotgun
blast. A 13-year-old boy has been charged with manslaughter. Police
have said officers have been seizing more firearms from criminals in
the past year. Most are long-barrelled guns that have been cut down
for easy concealment. These weapons are usually obtained in break-ins.

On Tuesday, police raided a St. Boniface home and seized two
high-powered handguns. A Hells Angels member and a gang associate
remain in custody charged with numerous firearms offences.