Accused in amateur soccer star’s fatal 2024 Winnipeg shooting arrested in B.C.

An accused killer who’s been on the lam since he was accused in a brazen Winnipeg shooting in July 2024 that left an amateur soccer star dead has been arrested in British Columbia.

Tresor Horimbere, 24, was found and arrested in Langley, B.C., a city just east of Vancouver, on July 30.

Manitoba police officers travelled to B.C. on Monday to arrest him and bring him back to Winnipeg.

He’s been charged with first-degree murder in the July 13, 2024 slaying of Mohamed Yusuf Abdullahi, 22, in the parking lot of the Ralph Cantafio Soccer Complex on Waverley Street.

Winnipeg Police Service homicide detectives have been working closely with RCMP in British Columbia to locate Horimbere, city police said Tuesday. Investigators suspected he was travelling throughout the country to avoid being arrested, police said.

He was named as the Bolo Program’s No. 4 most wanted fugitive in Canada late last year.

The program, a Quebec-based non-profit, installed brightly coloured billboards on Portage Avenue in late December displaying photos of Horimbere, his name, the fact he was wanted for murder and a request for tips on his whereabouts.

The program was offering up to $100,000 in rewards for tips to led to Horimbere’s capture. The program’s executive director, Maxime Langlois, said Tuesday he could not say whether any rewards were paid out.

Abdullahi was shot multiple times outside the south Winnipeg soccer complex in front of as many as 100 witnesses after a Canada African Cup of Nations match between teams made up of players with connections to Eritrea and Ghana, respectively.

The tournament, launched in 2019 by a non-profit organization, sees African immigrants and international students play for teams representing their home nations in an effort to bring together different communities and get youngsters off the street.

A friend and a community leader who spoke about Abdullahi during a memorial service after the shooting described him as a talented soccer player who arrived in Canada in 2014, after escaping civil war in Somalia with his family.

Winnipeg police have previously said they believe the shooting was targeted and may have been connected to gangs and illicit drugs. Investigators did not believe it was related to the soccer game.

Investigators arrested two other men in connection to the shooting. Crown prosecutors later stayed charges against one of the suspects.

— With files from Tyler Searle

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca