Teen caught in crossfire of gang shooting: trial

Phil Haiart was caught in a feud between two rival gangs when he was killed on an inner-city Winnipeg street in 2005, the jurors in the trial of one man accused of shooting him heard Wednesday.

The jury began to hear evidence in the trial of Jeffrey Cansanay, charged with second-degree murder in the Haiart shootingand attempted murder for the injury of a second man.

Haiart, 17, was killed two years ago while walking with a friend in Winnipeg's West End neighbourhood.

A second person, who can't be named due to his age at the time of the incident, faces the same charges as Cansanay and will go to trial later this year.

Crown attorney Gary Bowering told the jury that Phil Haiart and another man, Abass Jalloh, were walking near the corner of Sargent Avenue and Maryland Street, around 11 p.m. on Oct. 10, 2005, and inadvertently walked into a dispute between two rival street gangs:the Mad Cowz and the African Mafia.

Cansanay, 21, was once a member of the Mad Cowz, but had split from the group, the Crown said. The dispute between the groups, which had been simmering for days, erupted in gunfire that night.

Bowering told the jury Cansanay opened fire with a .22-calibrerifle at two rival gang members fromnear a crack house where he lived on McGee Street.

While walking past, Haiart was hit in the stomach andJalloh in the forearm. They fled the gunfire, but Haiart collapsed a block away.

A passing motorist flagged down a patrol car. A police constable who was first on the scene told the court Wednesday thathe found Haiart "lying on the filthy street in his own blood."

Haiart died in hospital four hours later.

'Memories just keep coming back'

Haiart was a popular graduate of Winnipeg's prestigious St. John's Ravenscourt School.His death shocked the city and prompted Mayor Sam Katz and Police Chief Jack Ewatski to form a task force aimed at reducing street crime.

In the days after the shooting, Haiart's girlfriend, Isora Van Dresser, pleaded for action to end violent crime in the city.

The city responded by launching Operation Clean Sweep, a police unit targeting street crime in the inner city. The initiative later became the permanent street crimes unit.

"I think they are trying really hard, but I'm still hearing about crime every day," Van Dresser said during an interview on Tuesday. "Just like a week ago there was a shooting right around here. I don't really see it curbed that much, actually."

Van Dresser said she is still having trouble moving past Haiart's death.

"I'm 21 years old now. I'd really like to be living on my own and having my own kind of life," she said. "But whenever I think about moving out again, all the memories just keep coming back."