WINNIPEG – Over the weekend, Winnipeg Police were kept very busy dealing with stabbings, reports of gunfire, and shootings. The weekend wound down with another homicide in the city, the 17th of 2020.
On May 24, 2020, at 3:00 pm, members of the Winnipeg Police Service responded to a Winnipeg Transit bus in the area of Colony Street and Ellice Avenue for a report of a stabbing on board the Winnipeg Transit bus. Upon arrival, officers located an injured male and took a suspect into custody. The victim was transported to the hospital in critical condition where he succumbed to his injuries.
The deceased victim has been identified as Raymond Wesley Hill, a 57-year-old male of Winnipeg.
Members of the Homicide Unit continued with the investigation.
It is believed that the suspect and victim had boarded the transit bus at a nearby stop. As the bus drove, the suspect started an unprovoked altercation with the victim, which escalated to the suspect brandishing a knife and stabbing the victim. The bus came to a halt, and the victim flagged down a passing police unit before collapsing. Officers provided first aid and boarded the bus, at which time the suspect was taken into custody.
Winnipeg Police Service Constable Jay Murray stated during a media conference that police in the city are seeing a number of violent incidents in the city where the people involved don’t know each other.
“It is certainly unusual to see violent crime in that nature but it is occurring and it certainly feels, anecdotally, that violence is growing,” Murray said. This stabbing death is unsettling as it appears that the victim and his killer didn’t know each other. “The two of them got on at the same bus stop at Portage Avenue,” says Murray. “Witnesses describe it as very calm, that they weren’t engaging with each other. And it was just during this bus ride, it’s not clear why it occurred, we believe it’s unprovoked.”
Justin Gabriel James, a 46-year-old male of Winnipeg, has been charged with:
– Manslaughter
Justin Gabriel James was detained in custody.
Investigators are seeking a passenger that witnessed the altercation but left the bus before speaking with the police. The passenger is asked to call the Homicide Unit at 204-986-6508 or Crime Stoppers at 204-786-TIPS (8477).
