Winnipeg police have charged two people in a house fire that killed a 14-year-old boy on Tuesday.

Investigators do not believe Nathan Starr, 14, was the target of what they call a gang-related arson.
(Winnipeg Free Press)

A 27-year-old man and a 16-year-old boy were charged Wednesday with second-degree murder in the death of Nathan Starr, who died in a fire on Mountain Avenue early Tuesday morning.

Const. Nick Paulet confirmed that investigators believe the fire was deliberately set.

Two officers with the police street crimes unit were patrolling the area when they saw two people throw something at the front of the house, Paulet said.

He wouldn't say what was thrown, but said within seconds the house was on fire.

Constables Thane Chartrand and Lindsay Cancilla had a quick decision to make, he said: pursue the suspects or see if anyone was in the house.

They called for backup and returned to the house, where they helped 10 people — ranging in age from nine months to 66 years — exit the house through a rear window.

Police helped 10 people, ranging in age from nine months to 66 years, to exit the burning house through a rear window.
(CBC)

Firefighters found Starr, who had been sleeping over at the home of his girlfriend, in a third-floor bedroom. He was rushed to hospital, but did not survive.

Investigators do not believe Starr was the target of the attack, Paulet said.

Police used dogs to track the suspects to a home on Aberdeen Avenue, a few blocks away.

The two suspects are alleged by police to have gang connections, and the fire appears to have been part of a drug-related gang dispute, Paulet said.

If the officers had not been in the area when the fire started, it could have been a much bigger tragedy, said Sgt. Darrin Kruger.