The African soccer community of Winnipeg is in shock after a 22-year-old soccer player was killed over the weekend in what police believe was a targeted attack.
Winnipeg police were called at around 11:45 p.m. Saturday, after Mohamed Yusuf Abdullahi was found unresponsive and suffering from gunshot wounds outside of the Ralph Cantafio Soccer Complex on Waverley Street, Const. Dani McKinnon said at a Monday news conference.
Abdullahi had just finished playing in the Canada African Cup of Nations’ 2024 tournament, and McKinnon says he was exiting the event through the complex’s parking lot when he was shot.
“He was just exiting through the parking lot, I imagine with a number of other people [there], and the shooting occurred,” she said.
He was taken to hospital in critical condition and pronounced dead.
Gode Katembo, president of the Canada African Cup of Nations, says he was inside the complex when the shooting happened about 20 minutes after games had ended.
“I thought it was just fireworks, until I looked at the parking lot and people were running back into the facility,” he said at a Monday afternoon news conference.
“That was when I realized something was off.”
Katembo says he didn’t know Abdullahi personally, but the 22-year-old was playing on Team Eritrea in the tournament.
“He was a young man that was loved by the community,” Katembo said.
“This is a shock, this is a pain, this is a tragedy in the community. And the family is still processing this,” he said.
“We’re all traumatized.”
Shooter ‘quickly left in a vehicle’: Police
While it’s too early to say what the shooter’s motive was, McKinnon said Abdullahi’s killing is “generally believed to be a targeted” attack, adding that 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.
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,” said McKinnon.
She said the shooter is believed to be male, but it’s too early in the investigation to say much more about him.
No one else was injured in the shooting, McKinnon said.
About 100 people attended the soccer event, meaning that “people saw things, even though they might not realize they saw something that perhaps was a little off or suspicious,” she said.
“No information is too small to [be] checked by the investigators.”
‘Very disturbing, very concerning’
Katembo says his organization’s advisory board is still to decide whether a match scheduled for next week should still go ahead.
“Yeah, soccer is beautiful, but the lives of people are more important than that.”
He does not believe the shooting had to do with the results of the soccer match.
McKinnon agreed, saying on Monday the shooting does not appear to be related to the event or any of the other participants or attendees.
She described the incident as “very disturbing, very concerning.”
“We’ve spoken with the community leaders that have been involved in this event. We’ll continue to speak to the victim’s family and provide as much support as we can,” she said.
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.