A 22-year-old man has been identified as the soccer player who was fatally shot outside a south end Winnipeg complex over the weekend.
Mohamed Yusuf Abdullahi was found unresponsive and suffering from gunshot wounds outside of the Ralph Cantafio Soccer Complex on Waverley Street at around 11:45 p.m. Saturday, Winnipeg police said in a Monday news release.
He had just finished playing in the Canada African Cup of Nations’ 2024 tournament, and police say he was in the soccer complex’s parking lot when he was shot.
He was taken to hospital in critical condition and pronounced dead.
While it’s too early to say what the shooter’s motive was, Const. Dani McKinnon said at a Monday news conference the shooting was “generally believed to be a targeted event.”
McKinnon said police already have key evidence and witnesses which led them to that conclusion.
“We’re not saying we don’t have any information,” she said.
McKinnon said police spoke with a number of people outside the soccer complex after the shooting, and “established that the individual who did the shooting quickly left in a vehicle.”
No one else was injured in the shooting, McKinnon said.
Police now ask anyone with information about the incident to come forward, noting that there were about 100 people who attended the game.
Gode Katembo, president of the Canada African Cup of Nations, told CBC on Sunday that he does not believe the shooting had to do with match results.
Anyone who saw anything or anyone suspicious, or who may have photos or video of the event, is asked to contact homicide investigators at 204-986-6508, or to submit an anonymous tip to Crime Stoppers at 204-786-TIPS or online.