Updated:
A second youth sought in a string of vicious assaults in central Winnipeg last week has been arrested.
The Winnipeg Police Service (WPS) says the male, 15, has been charged with frst-degree murder, second-degree murder and aggravated assault.
A violent series of attacks on at least three adults was reported on Aug. 25. Diane Ballantyne, 38, was killed and now police say 54-year-old Marvin William Felix succumbed to his injuries. A third man remains in hospital.
Another 15-year-old boy is in custody.
Ballantyne was found dead in an apartment in the Point Douglas area on Aug. 22.
Const. Dani McKinnon of the Winnipeg Police Service says investigators believe they were all random attacks and other people may have been targeted.
“Investigators believe there are potentially other victims who have been assaulted and have not met with police,” McKinnon said Thursday.
Police were first called for a seriously injured man in a parking lot beside an apartment building. About 30 minutes later, patrol officers found another seriously injured man at the rear of a nearby hotel.
Police were in the area investigating when officers were flagged down again by an injured man who said he, too, had been assaulted, McKinnon said.
McKinnon said the investigation is ongoing and there could be more arrests. Police are investigating a possible motive, she said, including whether gang initiations played a role.
McKinnon said there is a large population of displaced, vulnerable or homeless people in the area. But she would not say if police believed they were being targeted in the attacks.
The assaults and killing have shaken the community, McKinnon said, and additional police officers continue to patrol the area.
