‘The concern is grave’: police seize 22 firearms, one after funeral of homicide victim

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This article was published 11/11/2019 (1625 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winnipeg police seized 22 firearms — including four semi-automatic handguns — last week following an investigation that led to an arrest linked to a recent shooting.

“The concern is grave. These individuals that are in possession of these firearms, they don’t often comply with the law. It is our duty as police to bring these people to justice,” Winnipeg Police Service Insp. Max Waddell said Tuesday.

“We could be faced with a confrontation with them and could be faced with this kind of firepower. It’s on the streets of Winnipeg.”

Investigators received a tip on Nov. 7 that a man wanted on a Canada-wide arrest warrant was attending the funeral of Jamshaid Wahabi, a recent homicide victim.

Wahabi was killed, and a second man was injured, during a shooting at Citizen Nightclub in the exchange district on Nov. 2. It marked Winnipeg’s 38th slaying of 2019.

Following Wahabi’s funeral, police conducted a traffic stop of a vehicle the suspect was believed to be in. The suspect was inside the vehicle in possession of a loaded semi-automatic handgun, police said.

Rami Hagos, 24 of Winnipeg, has been charged with attempted murder and other offences.

Police said the attempted murder charge relates to the Citizen Nightclub shooting. The investigation into the incident remains ongoing, but police wouldn’t say if they’re searching for other suspects.

Investigators subsequently learned the firearm that was allegedly in Hagos’s possession was legally registered to a different owner.

On Nov. 8, police executed a search warrant at the owner’s home on Marine Drive in Normand Park. Police seized 21 additional firearms from the residence.

A 40-year-old Winnipeg man has been charged with numerous firearms offences and is in custody.

It’s not clear how the owner’s firearm allegedly ended up in Hagos’s possession, or what connection — if any — exists between the two men.

“As a legal gun owner, you are responsible at all times for being in possession of, and knowing the whereabouts of, your firearms,” Waddell said.

“The accused in this matter was not aware that that firearm was not in his possession and was in the possession of someone else, and therefore has been charged with trafficking.”

Police said forensic testing on the seized weapons will determine whether any of the guns can be tied to past crimes.

While Waddell wouldn’t comment on any of the accused specifically, he did say the investigation involved “the gang subculture.”

“We have a gang problem and we have a gun problem. We’ve consistently seen during the last five years an increase in seizures and gun violent crime,” he said.

ryan.thorpe@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @rk_thorpe