On Sunday, November 26, 2023, tragedy struck as Melelek Leseri Lesikel, a 29-year-old Kenyan student pursuing Biology at the University of Manitoba, fell victim to a fatal shooting inside a residence in West Broadway, Canada.
Melelek Leseri Lesikel, along with three others, lost their lives during a mass shooting at 143 Langside, leaving one additional victim in critical condition. Winnipeg Police reports indicate that the incident unfolded around 4 a.m. Responding to emergency calls, law enforcement discovered five individuals wounded as they conducted a rescue operation in the residential block.
At the scene, two victims were tragically pronounced dead, while the remaining three were swiftly transported to the hospital. Unfortunately, one of them succumbed to their injuries during medical treatment.
On November 27, 2023, another victim, previously in critical condition, passed away, bringing the total death toll to four. The individual who survived the incident and was initially in critical condition is currently under close monitoring for progress.
Prior to the devastating discovery, the Kenyan student, Lesikel, had been reported missing for several months. His former roommate, with whom he shared a residence in 2017 before Lesikel's relocation, confirmed to Free Press Canada that their last conversation occurred approximately 10 months ago.
President of the Kenya Association of Manitoba, Pamela Obonde, confirmed that the deceased had a brother in the United States and a family back in Kenya.
However, the former president of the association, Sam Aguko, in his part, stated that he last spoke with the deceased’s mother around two years ago, when he was still the leader of the community.
“To be honest, I was surprised that he was in Winnipeg. All along, I thought he was back in Kenya and he was never coming back,” Aguko opened up in an interview.
During one period when Lesikel was missing, his mother reached out to Aguko to track and find him. The search party that reunited the mother and son was recently alarmed at learning that he vanished again.
“We tried our best to find him, but we never found him. Then his mom came to Winnipeg and he reappeared,” he said. “They were able to connect and she went home with him back to Kenya.”
Examinations of court records by the Free Press revealed that Leseri had no criminal history that would warrant a search party to visit police stations in an attempt to locate him.
As of November 29, 2023, no suspects related to the shooting had been apprehended by the police officers in Winnipeg.