Billboards in Winnipeg aim to track down man wanted in 2024 homicide

Billboards are going up in Winnipeg to try and find the suspect in a 2024 homicide at a Winnipeg soccer complex

Two bright yellow billboards on Portage Avenue – plastered with the face of a homicide suspect – are hard to miss. That’s the idea.

It is the latest effort by the Winnipeg Police Service (WPS) and a non-profit organization called The Bolo Program to track down one of Canada’s most wanted – Tresor Horimbere.

“It was obvious for us that the case should be prioritized as much as possible,” said Max Langlois, executive director of the Bolo Program.

Police have been searching for Horimbere in connection with the deadly shooting of 22-year-old Mohamed Yusuf Abdullah.

Abdullah had been leaving Winnipeg’s Ralph Cantafio Soccer Complex in July 2024 when he was shot in the parking lot. He later died in hospital.

At the time, police called it a targeted attack.

The charges and allegations against Horimbere have not been tested in court.

Horimbere is considered one of the top most wanted suspects in Canada, according to the Bolo Program. The Quebec-based non-profit runs campaigns on social media, billboards and bus benches, in hopes of getting citizens to be on the lookout for Canada’s most-wanted suspects.

“We work hand in hand with police services,” Langlois said.

While the organization has taken out between 400 and 500 billboards across Canada since its inception in 2018, Langlois said Horimbere’s is the first to feature a WPS case.

Const. Claude Chancy, a WPS public information officer, told CTV News he could not provide any information related to any specific investigations.

“However, I can say the BOLO program has been effective in generating tips and will continue to be utilized in future WPS led investigations,” he wrote in an email.

Langlois said the current campaign includes four billboards in two locations in Winnipeg, along with ads on Facebook and Instagram. He said the goal is to generate tips from the public, with a promise of up to $100,000 for any information leading to an arrest.

“If you have something to say, say it now, because it will expire on June 9, 2026,” he said. “So, I urge you, to call now if you have something to say.”

While this is the first of Bolo’s billboards to feature a Winnipeg Police Service case, Langlois said it likely won’t be the last.

“There will be more, it’s just a matter of time,” he said. “It could be on the Horimbere case. It could be on other cases, but definitely Winnipeggers can expect the Bolo Program to have an increased presence in Winnipeg over the next few years.”