Police plead for witnesses to 'brazen and daring' drive-by shooting death

A drive-by shooting that left one man dead and another in critical condition was a targeted hit, Winnipeg police say, but they arestruggling to understand why.

TheodorosBelaynehand another man,BiniamFitur,were shot nearDonald Street andStradbrookAvenue in the early hours of Nov. 26, 2016.Both were taken to hospital in critical condition butBelayneh, 32,didn't survive.

"There's no doubt about it, their intention was to kill the occupants of that vehicle,"Sgt.John O'Donovan saidat anews conference Wednesday as police pleaded with witnesses to come forward.

"This is Winnipeg, it's not Chicago. We can't allow that to continue. We've got to step up and get some help to make sure we get the people responsible for this."

Using video surveillance from businesses and other buildings in the area, police have identified two vehicles. They believe the occupants of those vehicles could offer some valuable information.

O'Donovan said the occupants of the vehicleswere close enough to the shooting thatthey must have seen what happened.

"What the occupants of these vehicles can tell us is 'where did the gunman's vehicle go?'" he said.

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One of the vehicles is believed to be a four-door black BMW 3 Series that had a group of people inside. The other vehicle is a smallSUV, likely aJeep Cherokee Trailhawkor a Range Rover Evoque, that was driven by a woman who appeared to be alone.

There were several other vehicles in the area but the occupants of those two would have had the best view of what happened,O'Donovan said.

"They must have known what was going on," he said, explainingthat glass "pretty much exploded and flew everywhere" during the shooting.

The surveillance video is not focused on the intersection, so it's blurry when zoomed in, O'Donovan explained. Police can see the vehicles in the area but can't make out the actual shooting.

"Please come forward, please help us out. We need to know a little bit more about who shot Teddy Belayneh," he said.

It could very well be that one of those vehicles contained the shooter butthe likelihood that both wereinvolved is slim, O'Donovan said.So if the occupants of at least one of the vehicles gets in touch with police, that could help out greatly, he said.

'Struggling with a motive'

Belayneh, who is from Edmonton, was in the front passenger seat of the targeted vehicle. The shooter's bullets blew out the window beside himthen punched holes into windshield.Fitur, who is from Winnipeg and was driving the targeted vehicle, swerved over the median of Donald Street and onto Stradbrookafter being hit.

Even then, until the car fully came to rest, the gunshots were still coming,O'Donovansaid.

"We're talking basically about a drive-by shooting," he said,addingFituris "extremelylucky to be alive."

"I firmly believe the intention was to kill everybody in that car."

Although police have been able to speak to Fitur, he hasn't given any indication as to why the shooting happened or who might be responsible.

"We're struggling with a motive for this," O'Donovansaid, noting there's nothing to suggest it wasconnected to other violence in the city and there havebeen no repercussions since it happened.

Belayneh had acriminal record, so police are also looking into whether the shooting is related to any past convictions.

The two men had attendeda performance by American rapper Ace Hood at Reset Interactive Ultralounge on Pembina Highway hours before the shooting, police said.

Therewas a lot of shots fired here and abullet doesn't stop until it hits something.- Sgt.John O'Donovan

Belaynehdid get into a minor altercation at the club for talking to some girls, "but it was nothing that should have led to a shooting," O'Donovan said.

When he andFitur left the club, they made no other stops before the shooting. And there are no reports of dangerous or reckless driving, so police don't believe the shooting is a road-rage incidenteither.

A veteran of many investigations,O'Donovan said this one stands out for its "brazen and daring" nature.

"It's not something we're not used to seeing in Winnipeg. We do have a lot of murders in Winnipeg but this is different," he said, adding it could have been even worse.

There are apartments in the area, and there were several cars drivingby andpeoplewalking nearby at the time of the shooting.

"Therewas a lot of shots fired here and a bullet doesn't stop until it hits something,"O'Donovan said.