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The volunteers stand around the old storefront at 605 Main St. holding cardboard boxes filled with supplies — fresh fruit, bottles of water and jugs of juice, plastic containers into which used needles can be safely disposed — when there’s a knock at the door.

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The volunteers stand around the old storefront at 605 Main St. holding cardboard boxes filled with supplies — fresh fruit, bottles of water and jugs of juice, plastic containers into which used needles can be safely disposed — when there’s a knock at the door.

Someone unlocks it and lets in a woman off the street. She wanders over to a nearby table stacked high with folded clothing and looks through what’s on offer. Like everything else here, the clothing is free for anyone who needs it.

Off in the corner, talking energetically, is educator and activist Mitch Bourbonniere, who organizes a community walk out of this storefront every Tuesday and Thursday. Rain or shine, sleet or snow, they don’t miss a day — week in week out, month after month, year after year.

“There’s no funding for this,” Bourbonniere says, “we just do it.”

The only overhead is rent, which is handled by a few people who pitch in a few hundred dollars per month. The food and supplies are sourced from a grassroots network of do-gooders spread across Winnipeg, and volunteers from various organizations come and go as they please.

MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Mitch Bourbonniere gathers up vests and other gear from volunteers following a recent patrol. Volunteers walk along Main Street twice a week handing out food, clothing and offering support to people in need.

MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS

Mitch Bourbonniere gathers up vests and other gear from volunteers following a recent patrol. Volunteers walk along Main Street twice a week handing out food, clothing and offering support to people in need.

“We have little grannies all over the city cooking for us. We’ve got people doing baking. We had a youth group show up with $200 in a plastic bag from a bake sale they did. Schools do water drives… Everybody donates to us,” Bourbonniere says.

“We’re like Robin Hood: We take from the donators and give to our relatives.”

The main purpose of the walk is to be of service to “relatives” on the Main Street strip, bringing water to thirsty mouths and food to hungry bellies, medical supplies to those in need, and establishing relationships with people most citizens look down upon, if not overlook entirely.

“It’s not a choice to be out here. No one chooses it. Everyone has a different story, everyone has a different reason to be out here. Some of our people out here, who we know and love, are residential school survivors,” he says.

“I have an adult son, he’s 37 years old, he lives with schizophrenia, and he’s been out here. He’s safe right now, I’m looking out for him, but there have been times in his life when he’s been out here. So when I walk up and down these streets, that’s who I see. I see my son, that drives me.”

“It’s not a choice to be out here. No one chooses it. Everyone has a different story, everyone has a different reason to be out here. Some of our people out here, who we know and love, are residential school survivors.”– Mitch Bourbonniere

Like most things Bourbonniere does, the twice-weekly community walk has more than one purpose. It’s not just about forging connections and meeting the immediate needs of those on the streets of Winnipeg, it’s also a form of restorative justice in action.

To that end, he’s extended an open invitation to at-risk youth interested in tagging along. Many take him up on the offer, putting the hours of community service towards court-mandated diversion programs, completing high school credits, or building their resumes.

One of them is Stefan, 17, who recently became a father. He has history with both Manitoba’s child welfare and youth criminal justice systems, and it was several years ago, while locked up at the Manitoba Youth Centre, that he first crossed paths with Bourbonniere.

At first, Stefan was resistant to change, uninterested in Bourbonniere’s message of redemption and hope. But he credits Bourbonniere with never giving up on him, and eventually helping him get a job with the Downtown Community Safety Partnership, where he now works full-time.

“He helps me, he helps my family, he helps my brother, who is still in jail. Mitch always sees the change in people. He gave me support and he helped me get out of my old life… I don’t think I could have done it without him,” Stefan says.

MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Bourbonniere estimates 90 per cent of the children he works with are involved with CFS, while 75 per cent have experiences in the youth criminal justice system.

MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS

Bourbonniere estimates 90 per cent of the children he works with are involved with CFS, while 75 per cent have experiences in the youth criminal justice system.

The feeling is mutual, the respect flowing both ways: Bourbonniere calls Stefan his “hero” for the way in which he’s turned his life around, making a positive impact on his family and community in the process.

Bourbonniere estimates 90 per cent of the children he works with are involved with CFS, while 75 per cent have experiences in the youth criminal justice system.

As the clock ticks towards 10 a.m. on a recent Tuesday, Bourbonniere tells those gathered at 605 Main St. that it’s time to head out into the streets, and one-by-one they exit through the front door, rolling out wagons filled with food and supplies.

The day begins with a smudge, and afterwards Bourbonniere launches into a short speech, explaining the importance of the work they do. He asks the group not to record what he says, but the theme is simple and straightforward, a common refrain if you spend enough time with him.

If you are hurting, if you are in pain, then find someone to help.

For it is in giving that we receive; it is in helping others that we are healed.

“We do not need to be the murder capital of Canada anymore…”

And with that, Glen Murray’s voice broke, shaking with emotion. As if to compose himself, he shuffled the papers on the podium, tapping them against the wood in cadence with the rhythm of his words.

It was Aug. 26, and Murray — the former mayor of Winnipeg (1998–2004) and current mayoral candidate — had gathered with supporters at the William Whyte Community Garden to announce his crime reduction strategy in advance of the Oct. 26 municipal election.

Days earlier, three people had been attacked in a string of violent assaults in Point Douglas. Danielle Dawn Ballantyne, 36, and Marvin William Felix, 54, were both killed, while an unnamed victim in his 50s was taken to hospital in critical condition.

Homicide investigators allege two 15-year-old boys are responsible for the killings, charging them both with two counts of second-degree murder and one count of aggravated assault. Due to the provisions of the Youth Criminal Justice Act, they cannot be named.

“Look at the dynamics behind both of (the accused’s) lives and look at ourselves as a community. We are one of the wealthiest generations in the history of this country… We have an ability in this generation to end this once and for all.”– Glen Murray

“As a foster parent who took care of kids, who had terrible choices, because we (as a society) neglected them, because we didn’t do the things we know how to do… To the unsheltered (person) who was beaten to death by a 15-year-old,” Murray went on, regaining his composure.

“Look at the dynamics behind both of (the accused’s) lives and look at ourselves as a community. We are one of the wealthiest generations in the history of this country… We have an ability in this generation to end this once and for all.”

The summer of 2022 has been bloody in the streets of Winnipeg, and the two 15-year-old boys charged for the double homicide in Point Douglas are far from the only teenagers implicated in violent attacks.

A review of police press releases dating back to June reveals a disturbing pattern of homicides and assaults, carjackings and armed robberies. And in many cases, the alleged perpetrators are not old enough to drive, let alone vote.

A Free Press analysis of publicly available homicide data suggests the number of youth and young adults (ages 18 to 21) implicated in killings has risen during the past 10 years.

There was a 35 per cent increase in youth implicated in violent deaths in Winnipeg from 2018 to 2022 when compared to the five years prior; meanwhile, the number of young adults charged in homicides during that same time period rose by 31 per cent.

There was a 35 per cent increase in youth implicated in violent deaths in Winnipeg from 2018 to 2022 when compared to the five years prior; meanwhile, the number of young adults charged in homicides during that same time period rose by 31 per cent.

This story seeks to examine why many of these children and young adults picked up the knife or pistol in the first place, and what can be done to ensure the cycle of violence is broken.

Speaking to the Free Press this week, the grandfather of one of the accused in the Point Douglas attacks said the boy had grown up on Long Plain First Nation where he was influenced by a culture of gangs and drugs.

The boy was apprehended by CFS at the age of 12 and was shuffled around multiple group homes, with the grandfather claiming his behaviour grew worse and more concerning during his time in the system than it was before he went in.

At least 22 violent incidents involving teenagers were reported in Winnipeg over the course of 71 days.

And on Tuesday, another: a 16-year-old boy charged with the killing of a 26-year-old man during a home invasion on the 200 block of Mapleglen Drive.

In the spring of 2020, the Manitoba Centre for Health Policy, a non-profit research unit based out of the University of Manitoba, released a report on “the overlap between child welfare and youth criminal justice system,” also known as the CFS-to-prison pipeline.

The findings were bleak, disturbing but not surprising.

The researchers found more than 80 per cent of all charges in the youth criminal justice system were laid against kids with past involvement in CFS, and that nearly half the children who spent time in care were charged with a crime by the age of 21.

“By the time they turned 21, kids who had been in care were more likely to have been accused of a crime than to have finished high school,” the report reads.

In Manitoba, Indigenous children — overwhelmingly First Nations — account for roughly 90 per cent of the CFS population and more than 80 per cent of those in youth corrections.

“By the time they turned 21, kids who had been in care were more likely to have been accused of a crime than to have finished high school.”

According to Prof. Marni Brownell, an associate director at the MCHP and one of the report’s lead authors, the findings point to the urgent need to reform both Manitoba’s child welfare and youth criminal justice systems.

“You look at Manitoba, and we not only have the highest rates of children in care in the country, but some of the highest rates of children in care in the world. Colleagues from around the world are astonished at the high rates of children in care in Manitoba,” Brownell said.

“Removing children from their families has been happening in Manitoba through the residential school system, through the ’60s Scoop, and now through the child-welfare system. It is damaging to communities, it is damaging to families, it is damaging to children.”

The report notes there are currently more Indigenous children in foster care in Canada today than there were in residential schools during the height of the system.

Critics have also likened Canadian prisons to the ‘new residential schools,’ given the staggering overrepresentation of Indigenous inmates. The situation is particularly acute on the Prairies: at Stony Mountain Institution, 70 per cent of the prisoners are Indigenous.

“Removing children from their families has been happening in Manitoba through the residential school system, through the ’60s Scoop, and now through the child-welfare system. It is damaging to communities, it is damaging to families, it is damaging to children.”– Prof. Marni Brownell

The children who end up in both CFS and the youth corrections are more likely to have special education needs, mental illness or development disabilities, as well as higher mortality rates.

High rates of child apprehension in Manitoba point to interconnected social and structural problems, according to Brownell, ranging from poverty and food security, to affording housing and a lack of well-funded community services.

“I feel like we haven’t been tackling those social and structural determinants that end up with kids going into care, that end up with kids having difficulties in education, that result in kids with mental disorders, that end up with them in the youth criminal justice system,” Brownell said.

“Until we really start tackling those social factors, those structural factors, we’re not going to see the improvements that I think Winnipeggers want to see.”

Those sentiments were echoed by Cora Morgan, Manitoba’s First Nations Family Advocate, who previously worked as the director of Onashowewin Justice Circle, a restorative justice program in Winnipeg. She credits her experience there as sparking her desire to take on her current role.

MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Cora Morgan, First Nations Family Advocate, says the child welfare funding model fails in making prevention a priority.

MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS

Cora Morgan, First Nations Family Advocate, says the child welfare funding model fails in making prevention a priority.

“One of the things we would often see at Onashowewin is that you’d have all these young people who’d lost value for life… These are children who don’t have the same things that most Manitobans do. They don’t have stable home lives,” Morgan said.

“They don’t have someone who cares where they are or what they are doing. When you see all these indicators, when you see all these kids who have lost value for life, or you hear of kids having over 200 different homes in a year — what do you expect to happen?”

Morgan shares an analogy she believes captures the reality of the child-welfare system in Manitoba: it’s like stamping seeds into the cracks of a sidewalk and expecting flowers to grow.

“We’ve had more than a 150 years of stolen children in this country. The consequences of that are extreme social issues… Think of all the different ways we’ve discarded the lives of young people, and then we stand back and act shocked they are capable of harming,” Morgan said.

“There are 11,000 kids in care, I don’t get why it’s not compelling to everyone. It seems like it’s become white noise. Think about filling up the MTS Centre with a bunch of kids who don’t have connections to their parents or family, think of the magnitude and the consequences of that.”

“There are 11,000 kids in care, I don’t get why it’s not compelling to everyone. It seems like it’s become white noise. Think about filling up the MTS Centre with a bunch of kids who don’t have connections to their parents or family, think of the magnitude and the consequences of that.”– Cora Morgan

One of the things Morgan believes Manitoba must grapple with is why so many resources are devoted to child apprehension, when they could be invested in supporting vulnerable parents who may be struggling with issues around poverty and food security.

“Behind the child welfare act is a funding model, and in that funding model, 90 per cent of the budget is for the ‘protection of children,’ and 10 per cent is for prevention. So imagine going into a mom’s home the day before payday or income assistance and finding no food,” Morgan said.

“There is no money in the budget for giving her a $100 gift card for Super Store, but there is $100,000 to put her children into a stranger’s home and pay foster care rates… Foster parents get far more money than a single parent on income assistance.”

The MCHP report noted that “as the number of placements” a child has been subjected to increased, “so too did their risk of being charged” with a crime.

What can be frustrating for advocates like Morgan is that none of this is new. The issues she highlights today are the same issues advocates were speaking out about decades ago.

RUTH BONNEVILLE / FREE PRESS FILES Murray Sinclair was co-commissioner of the Aboriginal Justice Inquiry in 1991.

RUTH BONNEVILLE / FREE PRESS FILES

Murray Sinclair was co-commissioner of the Aboriginal Justice Inquiry in 1991.

“Aboriginal people must have more control over the ways in which their children are raised, taught and protected. Failing this, we are convinced we will see more, not fewer, Aboriginal people in our correctional facilities in the future,” wrote Murray Sinclair, co-commissioner of the Aboriginal Justice Inquiry, in 1991.

“We will see more young Aboriginal people falling into a pattern that is becoming all too familiar. It takes them from institution to institution, from foster home to young offender facility, and, finally, onto adult jails.”

The AJI made clear it was “impossible to present a complete picture of the criminal justice system, and the youth justice system, without also analyzing the field of child and family services.”

An during a hearing for the landmark public inquiry, Oscar Lathlin, then Chief of The Pas Band, drove to the heart of the matter with a simple, pointed question:

“Is the current system conditioning our young for lives in institutions and not society?”

Where some see incomprehensible violence on Winnipeg’s streets, Ryan Beardy, a justice advocate and mentor with the Gang Action Interagency Network, sees signals of disorder and distress, signs of unhealthy spirits and unhealthy communities.

Sitting in a backroom at the offices of the Spence Neighbourhood Association on Ellice Avenue, Beardy says the same socio-economic factors that pushed him into street gangs as a teenager and ultimately prison as a young man, are still driving youth into conflict with the law today.

“I never met a young gang member who wanted to grow up to be a gang member. I never met a young gang member who said he wanted to grow up to be a criminal and to kill people. They have goals, they have hopes, they have dreams,” Beardy says.

“But unfortunately they have very real obstacles. I don’t think we can blame them, as youths, when the adults who run things don’t properly resource or support them… We can’t see youth violence as a problem. It’s the byproduct of an already existing, much bigger problem.”

Daniel Crump / Winnipeg Free Press Ryan Beardy, a mentor at Gang Action Interagency Network, says there has to be greater effort tackling the systemic issues that drive crime.

Daniel Crump / Winnipeg Free Press

Ryan Beardy, a mentor at Gang Action Interagency Network, says there has to be greater effort tackling the systemic issues that drive crime.

GAIN offers restorative justice alternatives to children and young adults going through the court system, pairing them with a mentor and developing an action plan so they can repair the harm they’ve caused and grow as individuals.

The non-profit’s ultimate goal is to break the cycle of gang violence in Winnipeg.

“The youth needs to have an ability and want to participate in a plan. Upon completion of that plan, nine times out of 10, because it involves such a lengthy process of one-on-one mentoring, the Crown attorney and the judge all agree to divert the charge away,” Beardy says.

“Restorative justice not only understands the needs of the harm receiver but the harm creator as well. A lot of times when someone is hurting they hurt people… It’s a way to put the humanity back into justice. It sees them as someone who needs healing themselves.”

Beardy points to polling data that suggests roughly half of Canadians don’t know what restorative justice is. And he concedes that among those who do, not everyone has a favourable opinion of it, with some worrying it amounts to a get-out-of-jail-free card.

“Restorative justice not only understands the needs of the harm receiver but the harm creator as well.”– Ryan Beardy

To those people, Beardy has a simple message: tough-on-crime policies haven’t worked. Not only has he seen restorative justice change the lives of people he works with at GAIN, he says he knows its effects first hand, having gone through the process himself.

“It has roots in traditional Indigenous teachings. In a traditional village, we wouldn’t have a teepee with no door on it and throw somebody in there. We wouldn’t cast them out, because banishment meant death. What we had to do was restore relationships,” Beardy says.

“We would have sharing circles, where we would bring the harm receiver and the harm creator — and I uses those terms very purposefully — together to address the harm. And that results in a healthier and stronger community, healthier and stronger relationships.”

The Free Press interviewed five people who have gone through restorative justice programs in Manitoba for this story, all of whom had varied histories with the police, courts and legal system, faced different charges, and who ranged in age from teenagers to their late-30s.

They all stressed the programs they went through were hard work, included serious efforts at making reparations toward those they had harmed, and credited restorative justice principles with helping them improve themselves and their lives.

“It has roots in traditional Indigenous teachings. In a traditional village, we wouldn’t have a teepee with no door on it and throw somebody in there. We wouldn’t cast them out, because banishment meant death. What we had to do was restore relationships.”– Ryan Beardy

One of them is Alex, 26, who caught his first criminal charge as a 16-year-old when he was arrested with a weapon after leaving a house party. At the time, he was dealing drugs and hanging around the periphery of gangs, although he says he never joined himself.

His main run-ins with law came in a series of domestic disputes with the mother of his children, with whom he had a nine-year relationship that began when he was 16. He describes the relationship as two people in love who were locked in a destructive, unhealthy dynamic.

“There was nights where we would drink and things would get heated… There were two, maybe three domestics, but honest to God I didn’t do anything physical. But we would argue really bad and then she would call the cops, and the drinking just made everything worse,” Alex said.

“It was towards the end of the relationship that things got really bad. She started hitting me one night. I restrained her and tossed her out of the apartment. She called the cops. And it had just been so many times they were called… That night she decided to sign papers and charge me.”

Had he been convicted, Alex would have had a domestic assault charge on his record for the rest of his life, likely severely limiting his employment opportunities and ability to provide for his children. Instead, he was deemed eligible for a diversion program, which he has since completed.

”Everything I learned, everything they did for me, everything I participated in, it really opened my eyes to a lot of different things. It showed me how to live a better, happier, positive life.”– Alex

“This saves a lot of people if they’re serious about it. It’s a really wonderful thing. Everything I learned, everything they did for me, everything I participated in, it really opened my eyes to a lot of different things. It showed me how to live a better, happier, positive life,” Alex said.

“Being negative and surrounding yourself in situations, or surrounding yourself with people who are just going to bring you down, it’s not worth it. That’s what I got from these programs.”

The main point every person interviewed by the Free Press made was that restorative justice had armed them with skills and coping mechanisms they otherwise would never have developed.

One person went so far as to suggest such programming should be made available to wider society — not just those involved in the criminal justice system — as a matter of crime prevention.

A 2022 report from Public Safety Canada said research into the effectiveness of restorative justice remains in its “infancy,” but conceded the “current reliance on incarceration… has not been overly successful in terms of rehabilitation or reintegration.”

DANIEL CRUMP / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Beardy says society must get down to the work of tackling systemic issues that drive crime in the first place.

DANIEL CRUMP / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS

Beardy says society must get down to the work of tackling systemic issues that drive crime in the first place.

The report also included a review of the research that does exist into restorative justice programs, which found it is cheaper than the traditional justice system, and that both victims and offenders express a high degree of satisfaction with the process and outcomes.

Beardy believes Manitoba needs more restorative justice initiatives, so that people don’t get locked into the vicious cycle of the criminal justice system. But he also said society must get down to the work of tackling systemic issues that drive crime in the first place.

“When a youth gets charged, it’s their first-time offence, perhaps they got caught with a weapon… We have to recognize that weapon could very well take them down a wrong path, but often it’s also an indication they’re not feeling safe in their community,” he says.

“Investing in youth is gang prevention. Investing in simple youth resources like basketball night at a gym, that’s gang prevention, it offers them an alternative. Investing in a police cruiser doesn’t do that.”

When he reflects upon the way in which his life has come full-circle — from being a gang member on the streets of Winnipeg, to being a prisoner at Stony Mountain Institution, to now being an anti-gang mentor — Beardy has one word to sum it all up: surreal.

“It’s very meaningful to me, and I’m very grateful… I work with youth now whose parents I was in gangs with. Some of the most impactful work you can do is helping people unlock their potential.”– Ryan Beardy

“It’s very meaningful to me, and I’m very grateful… I work with youth now whose parents I was in gangs with. Some of the most impactful work you can do is helping people unlock their potential,” Beardy says.

“It’s the gift that keeps on giving.”

The sun is shining as Mitch Bourbonniere and the other volunteers continue their community walk along the Main Street strip. He stops for a moment and points to the alleyway down Henry Avenue.

It’s the spot where Marvin William Felix, a 54-year-old amputee confined to a wheelchair, was attacked on Aug. 22 in the Point Douglas double homicide. He died in hospital Aug. 25.

“We call this Hope Alley,” Bourbonniere says.

He believes the recent spate of youth violence, which culminated in the deaths of Felix and Dannielle Dawn Ballantyne, should serve as a wake-up call to Winnipeggers, and a sign of just how many children in this city desperately need love, support and mentorship.

MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS “Lateral violence is when an oppressed group turns on itself. Lateral empathy is the opposite, it’s when the group becomes the (entity) that is going to help each other,” Bourbonniere says.

MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS

“Lateral violence is when an oppressed group turns on itself. Lateral empathy is the opposite, it’s when the group becomes the (entity) that is going to help each other,” Bourbonniere says.

Bourbonniere used to run an exercise with local schools, where at the start of the year, he’d gather the teachers together and make them write the name of every student on a blackboard. Then they’d go through the names one by one, asking what everyone knew of their lives and support structures.

“We’d go through every name. What do we know about this kid? Is anybody involved with this kid? Does anyone know about their life, is anyone connected to them? And one by one, we’d erase all the names of the kids that were known,” Bourbonniere says.

“And at the end of the exercise, those names that were left, those names that nobody knew, that nobody was connected to, those were the kids that were going to get in trouble. So that becomes your basketball team.”

The volunteers pull their wagons down the Main Street towards City Hall, handing out the last of the food and drinks to the people hanging around the alleyways and sidewalks. With each new person they come across, with each new connection forged, the supplies dwindle.

MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Delivering food, water and clothing is the byproduct — delivering joy, empathy and hope is the true gift.

MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS

Delivering food, water and clothing is the byproduct — delivering joy, empathy and hope is the true gift.

The group rounds the corner at Alexander Avenue, and the community walk comes to a close in the parking lot of Olschewski Davie Barristers & Solicitors, a legal office that gives Bourbonniere $300 per month to help cover the rent across the street at 605 Main.

In exchange, the volunteers clean up their lot, and when people end up sleeping on their property, they help relocate them to services in the area where they can find help.

After a short speech from Bourbonniere and a group photo, the volunteers disperse, splitting up and going their separate ways. They will return two days later, on Thursday morning, when they do it all over again — week in week out, month after month, year after year.

As he crosses the street back towards the old storefront at 605 Main, Bourbonniere explains an idea he came up with several years ago called “lateral empathy,” which captures the essence of the work he does in the community — another form of restorative justice in action.

“There’s a saying: when you bring misery to people, you bring misery to yourself, but when you bring joy to people, you bring joy to yourself… I’ve seen that transform people.”– Mitch Bourbonniere

“Lateral violence is when an oppressed group turns on itself. Lateral empathy is the opposite, it’s when the group becomes the (entity) that is going to help each other,” Bourbonniere says.

“There’s a saying: when you bring misery to people, you bring misery to yourself, but when you bring joy to people, you bring joy to yourself… I’ve seen that transform people.”

That ethic underpins his work, it is the guiding philosophy behind all he does: an undying hope that no matter how negative a situation is, no matter how dark and desperate, it can always be transformed into something positive.

And across the street, right off the Main Street strip, is a place that embodies his belief: Hope Alley, where the words “Love is Peace” are scrawled into a blue wooden bench.

ryan.thorpe@freepress.mb.ca

Ryan Thorpe likes the pace of daily news, the feeling of a broadsheet in his hands and the stress of never-ending deadlines hanging over his head.

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It began with the murder of Austin Chief, 24, who was shot to death at an apartment complex in the 600 block of Broadway Avenue during the early morning hours of June 12. Denzel Seth Wood, 19, has been charged with second-degree murder for the slaying. By the time he was arrested, he was already incarcerated at the Manitoba Youth Centre on unrelated charges. Eight days later, on June 20, a 16-year-old boy was rushed to hospital in critical condition after being shot at the Red River Exhibition. An 11-year-old boy was also struck by a stray bullet and taken to hospital by his mother. Click to read more

It began with the murder of Austin Chief, 24, who was shot to death at an apartment complex in the 600 block of Broadway Avenue during the early morning hours of June 12.

Denzel Seth Wood, 19, has been charged with second-degree murder for the slaying. By the time he was arrested, he was already incarcerated at the Manitoba Youth Centre on unrelated charges.

Eight days later, on June 20, a 16-year-old boy was rushed to hospital in critical condition after being shot at the Red River Exhibition. An 11-year-old boy was also struck by a stray bullet and taken to hospital by his mother.

It began with the murder of Austin Chief, 24, who was shot to death at an apartment complex in the 600 block of Broadway Avenue during the early morning hours of June 12.

Denzel Seth Wood, 19, has been charged with second-degree murder for the slaying. By the time he was arrested, he was already incarcerated at the Manitoba Youth Centre on unrelated charges.

Eight days later, on June 20, a 16-year-old boy was rushed to hospital in critical condition after being shot at the Red River Exhibition. An 11-year-old boy was also struck by a stray bullet and taken to hospital by his mother.

Police charged a 15-year-old girl and two 17-year-old boys for the shooting.

On June 16, a 17-year-old boy was accused of using bear spray onboard a city bus on Main Street. Police say the boy escaped, then boarded a second bus where he again discharged bear spray. He was taken into custody and found to be in the possession of cocaine.

On June 27, three girls — aged 13, 14 and 15 — were accused of assaulting and attempting to rob a father and his daughter at The Forks.

On June 29, again at The Forks, two men were stabbed and taken to hospital in critical condition, and a woman was attacked and left with minor injuries. Police charged two 15-year-old girls and an 18-year-old man for the assaults.

On July 1, yet again at The Forks, a Ukrainian refugee was stabbed in the neck during Canada Day celebrations, and another man was assaulted with pepper spray. Police charged three teenagers — two aged 19 and one 15 — for the high-profile attack.

On July 9, an 18-year-old narrowly survived a stabbing at a bush party in the area of Community Row and Wilkes Avenue. A 19-year-old man was charged with aggravated assault.

On July 12, three adults — including an 84-year-old woman — were stabbed during a home invasion in the 1100 block of Lorette Avenue. The accused is a 15-year-old boy.

July 15 saw a number of violent incidents involving teenagers: a 15-year-old and two 19-year-olds accused in a carjacking; a 19-year-old woman charged with the slaying of 18-year-old Logan Clarke; a 17-year-old boy charged in the death of a 33-year-old man; and a 16-year-old boy charged with assault with a weapon.

The following day, a 19-year-old boy was charged for a shooting in the 1100 block of Main Street, and an 18-year-old was accused of using a replica handgun during an attempted armed robbery in the 300 block of Kennedy Street.

On July 18, two boys — aged 14 and 16 — were accused of stabbing a 51-year-old man during an armed robbery.

On July 24, a 17-year-old boy was charged with three counts of assault with a weapon following an “unprovoked” attack on a group of children at The Forks.

On July 27, a 14-year-old boy was accused of assault and robbery in the 1600 block of Main Street. That same day, an 18-year-old was accused of weapons and drug offences in an unrelated incident.

On July 30, yet again at The Forks, a fight broke out, with roughly a dozen people fleeing as police arrived. A 16-year-old boy was arrested, with police saying he had brass knuckles and a large hunting knife in his possession. They also allege he’d been carrying a handgun.

On Aug. 1, a 13-year-old girl was stabbed and her two younger playmates were robbed at a playground in the 200 block of McKenzie Street. The accused in the case, charged with six criminal offences, is a 13-year-old girl.

On Aug. 14, a 15-year-old boy wearing a ski mask is alleged to have pulled a replica handgun on five men in an attempted armed robbery in the 900 block of Pritchard Avenue. He was later charged with eight criminal offences.

On Aug. 22, the double homicide in Point Douglas, with 15-year-old boys facing two counts of second-degree murder and one count of aggravated assault, respectively.