Winnipeg police fatally shoot armed person at Main Street apartment building after 911 calls

Posted on October 2, 2024 by Peggy

One person is dead after he was shot by Winnipeg police at a Main Street apartment building on Wednesday.

Winnipeg police said officers responded around 12:30 p.m. to multiple reports of a male armed with two edged weapons in the hallway of an apartment building in the 800 block of Main Street.

“There were multiple 911 calls on this incident. The male was armed with, and swinging, edged weapons, banging on tenants’ doors,” Winnipeg Police Service acting chief Art Stannard told reporters at a news conference early Wednesday evening.

“All the details we received from the callers indicated there was a risk to the public,” he said.

Officers who “quickly attended” to the calls ran up to a floor of the building where they encountered an armed person in the hallway, Stannard said.

The armed person was shot with a Taser and with at least one firearm, Stannard said, adding it is not yet clear how many officers fired.

Officers gave him first aid, applying a chest seal and tourniquet, police said.

He was taken to hospital and later died.

Police said the person’s family has not yet been notified, and they will release no other details about him at this point, including his age.

Several police cruisers, an ambulance and a fire truck sit outside a tall apartment building on a city street. — Police vehicles are seen early Wednesday afternoon outside 817 Main St. Callers to 911 said a person was swinging edged weapons in the building and banging on tenants’ doors, according to police. (Erin Brohman/CBC)

“At this time, our thoughts are with everybody involved in this tragic incident,” Stannard said.

“But thoughts are also with our members — these members are dedicated police officers who did not ever want to take a life,” he said.

“It was an active incident and we responded that way.… The public was at risk.”

No other members of the public were injured during the incident, police said.

Stannard said at least three officers were involved in the initial response to the calls.

‘A scary day’: resident

Early Wednesday afternoon, multiple police cars and emergency vehicles could be seen outside 817 Main St., an apartment building at the corner of Main and Jarvis Avenue. Cruisers were still outside the building later that evening.

Sue Caribou, a resident of the Main Street building, was inside her unit when police arrived. She saw a cruiser pulling onto the sidewalk, before a group of officers ran inside the apartment complex, she told CBC Wednesday evening.

At least six more police cars, an ambulance and a fire truck showed up, Caribou said. She told her husband to lock their door and they both waited inside, she said.

Caribou said she couldn’t hear the altercation between the armed person and police due to the loud noise of the sirens outside.

“It has been a scary day. We don’t know what’s going on,” she said.

“Some people don’t want to go out because there are still police cars here.… People are staying in their suites.”

Manitoba’s police watchdog, the Independent Investigation Unit, has been notified and is investigating, police said.