Winnipeg police have identified the victim of an early Thursday morning fatal shooting in the North End — and arrested his accused killer.
Homicide detectives named the slain man as 31-year-old Eric Yue-Fi Fong of Winnipeg.
Shayden Duck McFayden, 21, has been charged.
JOHN WOODS / FREE PRESS FILES
Eric Yue-Fi Fong, artist and marketing manager for Sober Families Alliance, was killed Thursday in the North End.
Police said Friday that detectives believe Fong and another man were walking in the area of Selkirk Avenue and McKenzie Street shortly before 3:20 a.m. when McFayden confronted them, allegedly shot Fong and chased the other man, who ran off.
Fong was taken to hospital and later died of his injuries.
Fong was an artist who worked for local non-profit Sober Families Alliance as marketing manager.
His artwork was featured in a free exhibition about addictions and mental health recovery at the Assiniboine Park Pavilion Art Galleries last August.
A practising Buddhist, Fong told the Free Press last year that he incorporated the faith’s motifs into his art.
He said he got involved with the non-profit, which offers recreational and therapeutic programs specifically for kids from families with parents dealing with addictions issues, because he suffered from mental-health and addictions issues in his teens.
He said in August he planned to lead art therapy sessions at the non-profit in the future.
McFayden was arrested at about 5 p.m. Thursday. Police did not indicate where he was picked up.
The man who was with Fong at the time has not been identified, and police do not know whether he was injured.
Police are asking anyone with information regarding the incident or the unknown victim to contact the Winnipeg Police Service’s homicide Unit at 204-986-6508, or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 204-786-8477 (TIPS) or winnipegcrimestoppers.org.
Fong’s death is Winnipeg’s 12th slaying of 2024, though police include the 2023 deaths of two infants in their internal 2024 homicide statistics, as charges were laid this year. Last year, the city recorded its 12th homicide on April 27.
— staff