Manitoba

Gun used to kill 17-year-old was illegally obtained, police say

Police believe the gun used to fatally shoot a 17-year-old last weekend was illegally obtained, and the victim and the accused had the gun for some time.

Victim, accused had gun for some time, officers say

Police tape surrounds a home on Sherburn Street Saturday, where Winnipeg police were investigating a homicide. (Travis Golby/CBC)

Police believe the gun used to fatally shoot a 17-year-old last weekend was illegally obtained, and the victim and the accused had the gun for some time.

Winnipeg police arrested a 15-year-old boy Saturday and charged him with manslaughter, among other offences, including a probation violation, after the 17-year-old young man was shot dead Saturday.

The 15-year-old boy accused in Saturday's shooting, which happened at a home on Sherburn Street, had had contact with police before, a police spokesman said Sunday. A probation violation is among the charges he faces.

Police have also said the two teenagers knew each other and they had been hanging out that night. Police do not believe the shooting was "an act of aggression," they said.

A relative of the dead boy told the CBC he was in foster care when he died, and he was best friends with the teen accused of killing him.

The firearm is now undergoing forensic testing.

with files from Laura Glowacki