Suspect in Winnipeg quadruple homicide served in Canadian Armed Forces for over a decade

The Winnipeg man charged in connection with a mass shooting that killed four people served in the Canadian Armed Forces, CTV News has confirmed.

Jamie Randy Felix, 32, made his first appearance before a judge Monday after he was arrested in connection to the shooting on Langside Street on Nov. 26.

Four people were killed and one person remains in critical condition.

On Friday, Felix was charged with four counts of second-degree murder and one count of attempted murder. The charges have not been tested in court and Felix is presumed innocent.

On Monday, CTV News confirmed that Felix served with the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) for 11 years prior to the incident.

In an email to CTV News, the Department of National Defence said it is “aware that a former Reserve member of the Royal Winnipeg Rifles has been charged with second-degree murder by the Winnipeg police.”

Felix joined the CAF in July 2010. He was a Corporal with the Royal Winnipeg Rifles and served as an infantry soldier. The Department of National Defence said Felix had no deployments throughout his career in the military.

In 2013, Felix told CTV News his time in the army helped change his life.

“I changed my life around,” Felix said at the time. “I lost friends, met new people and started doing better things for myself.”

Felix also said joining the military helped him cope with the loss of his identical twin brother Johnathen James Felix who was shot and killed in March 2012.

“The army teaches you the right way to protect and not hurt,” Felix said in 2013.

Experts say Felix’s experience in the army doesn’t necessarily mean he was at a higher risk to commit an offence.

“I don’t think that there would be any indications necessarily that someone with a military background could commit this type of heinous crime,” said Melanie Murchison, an instructor in the University of Manitoba’s sociology and criminology department.

“They may speak to a familiarity with some types of weapons.”

According to the Department of National Defence, Felix was released from the CAF in August 2021. At that time, court records show he was charged with assault causing bodily harm.

In March 2023, Felix was given a two-year suspended sentence and was under supervised probation at the time of the shooting on Langside Street last month.

“While I think we would like to think that (supervised probation) means it’s going to be very close supervision, very frequent supervision, often that’s not the case,” Murchison said.

Winnipeg police still haven’t recovered a weapon used in the killings and there are no new details about a potential motive.

On Sunday, the victims’ friends and family members gathered outside 143 Langside St. to remember their loved ones. They said Felix’s arrest brings them some relief.

“We just truly hope that justice is brought forward in this whole case,” said Roberta Owen, two of the victims’ aunt.

Felix is expected to make another appearance before a judge on Dec. 15, but it appears as though he will remain in custody until a date is set for a bail hearing.