Cyril Weenusk mourned by young sons at site of downtown Winnipeg killing

Cyril Weenusk's family remembered the father of four as soft-spoken and kind at a downtown Winnipeg vigil on Wednesday.

Weenusk, 26, was killed early Tuesday while in Winnipeg to help his father, who is in the city for medical care. His young sons were among the people who gathered at Portage Avenue and Donald Street for a vigil Wednesday night.

• Cyril Weenusk identified as Portage Avenue homicide victim
• Homicide investigation shuts down Portage Avenue for hours

Weenusk lived in Oxford House, Man., where he delivered water to homes with no running water, his cousin Rick Wass said.

"His dad is on dialysis and also has cancer, and that's why he was here in the city," Wass said, noting the men were staying at the Quest Inn on Ellice Avenue.

"It hurts.… He will surely be missed."

'The altercation turned violent and proved fatal'

Police say Weenusk was found injured around Portage Avenue and Donald Street at 3:50 a.m. on Tuesday morning. He later died in hospital.

The investigation into Weenusk's death is in its early stages, Const. Rob Carver said. 

The incident started with a "chance meeting on the street," meaning Weenusk did not know the people who killed him, Carver said.

"It appears that the victim had an altercation with a group of people … [that] turned violent and proved fatal," Carver told reporters on Wednesday afternoon.

Carver said investigators are looking for "three or more suspects."

Young family

Weenusk had four young children, Wass said, and the trauma of his death will not be the first to reverberate through the family.

"We had an uncle who had his life tragically taken as well," he said.

The uncle died in Thompson a few years ago, Wass said.

"It brings back a lot of memories to what we faced then and what we're facing now as a family," he said about Weenusk's death.

"To go through this whole thing again, the whole process, it's hard," he said.

"It's hard to face this once again."