Witness to Point Douglas attacks says multiple people were involved in early morning violence
Man describes brutal attacks in same area where 2 people were later found dead
A witness who watched with his wife as a group of young people beat up one man and stabbed another on the same morning as a pair of homicides in his Point Douglas neighbourhood believes the violence is gang-related.
Danielle Dawn Ballantyne, 36, and Marvin William Felix, a 54-year-old man who used a wheelchair, were killed in a series of attacks in the early hours on Aug. 22. Another man in his 50s was assaulted and remains in critical condition.
Two 15-year-old males are charged with two counts each of second-degree murder and one count of aggravated assault.
The witnesses, whom CBC has agreed not to name over fears for their safety, lives in the area of Jarvis Avenue and Main Street, and have a bedroom window that overlooks the street.
The man said sometime before 3 a.m., his wife woke him to say the gang living in the building next to theirs was fighting.
"I jump out of bed, I'm watching this and I'm just looking across the street (at) all these guys going after this one guy, just beating the living daylights out of this one guy right in the middle of the street," he said.
"Punching him, kicking him, he goes to the ground and they're still [pulverizing] him," he said, adding there were three or four people involved in the assault.
He said the beating continued for several minutes, until the man got up off the ground and ran down Jarvis Avenue and the others gave chase. He said while his attention was still on them, a separate group had gathered beneath his window. His wife said she saw a young male stab an older man.
"This is when the guy that's in front of our building yells out 'I've been stabbed,'" said the man.
"He yells out more — he's been stabbed, he's been stabbed, just screaming at the top of his lungs."
The witness said he called police, who arrived shortly after 3 a.m. He said the entire group, including the man who had been stabbed, had dispersed by the time they arrived.
It wasn't until 4:30 a.m. that police found the man, with serious injuries, in the parking lot on Main Street between Jarvis Avenue and Sutherland Avenue, adjacent to the apartment building. According to Winnipeg police on Thursday, the man, in his 50s, remains in critical condition.
At 5 a.m., police found Marvin Felix severely injured near the Bell Hotel on Main Street. They discovered Ballantyne's body in the building next to the apartment at around 7 a.m.
A third male victim was found around 5:30 a.m. near Logan Avenue and the Disraeli Freeway. Police haven't charged anyone in that attack.
The witness believes he could've done more to help police locate the stabbing victim after they arrived, but rather than going down to talk to them, he went back to sleep.
"Like I say. Snitches swim with fishes. I didn't really feel like getting involved," he said.
Another resident of the apartment building told CBC he also saw the group of people fighting and yelling across the street at around 3 a.m on Aug. 22 and called 911.
He said he approached them as they were beating someone to tell them to "knock it off."
"They said, 'They owe us money for drugs and dope,'" said John Goshulak.
"They live there in that stupid place," he added, pointing to the building beside the apartment.
Winnipeg police have previously said they believe the same or similar suspects were involved in all of the attacks of Aug. 22, and have not ruled out that the crimes were gang-related.
The male witness who CBC isn't identifying said the day before, a male in his teens approached him and a family member at the corner of Main and Jarvis and identified himself as a gang member, saying he protected that corner.
"He had a knife on the left hand side of his stomach, and a gun, I could see the handle. So once I saw that, that was right in front of me, I just kind of turned my head and looked down."
He said every night for months before the attacks, he would watch a group of at least 10-12 people, between the ages of 14 and 22, all dressed in black, coming and going from the building where Ballantyne's body was found. He said the group would hang out, making noise and causing other issues on the corner of Main and Jarvis.
He said he reported them to his building's security team, but was told nothing could be done unless they broke the law. When he woke up later on Aug. 22 and saw police gathered around the same building the young people had been frequenting for months, he thought at first police were making arrests. Instead, he learned they'd discovered Ballantyne's body.
"That was horrific," he said.
He wants more police surveillance, as he says many of the young people involved in the events he witnessed have returned to the building and area.
"I'm hoping they can do something about youth crime. Be careful on the streets. At night? They're very dangerous."
