Officer shoots man in downtown skywalk near police HQ

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 01/05/2017 (3095 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

wfpyoutube:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7tXmpYw9cI:wfpyoutube

In theory, it should be among the safest spots in the city. But a shooting in which an officer opened fire just outside the new Winnipeg police downtown headquarters Monday afternoon is raising questions that an independent watchdog will now be tasked with answering.

The chaotic scene unfolded around 12:20 p.m., when an on-duty officer shot and wounded a man in a well-travelled skywalk between Garry and Smith Street. Witnesses reported hearing yelling followed by at least two gunshots just outside a Subway restaurant and optometrist office.

Police Chief Danny Smyth said the victim was taken to hospital in unstable condition. No officers or any other civilians were injured. It’s not clear how many people were nearby at the time, but the skywalk would likely have been busy over the lunch hour. 

Members of the Independent Investigation Unit of Manitoba converged on the scene to assume control of the probe. They were doing a thorough canvass of all businesses in the area to determine what people may have seen or heard. The skywalk was closed in both directions for several hours. It’s possible some, or all, of the incident was captured on surveillance video.

“This is probably the first event that’s occurred during business hours. Up until now the critical events that we’ve had that IIU has taken jurisdiction of have occurred after hours. I expect the transition to IIU would probably be pretty quick here today,” said Smyth, who spoke 90 minutes after the shooting at a news conference held one floor below where it happened.

Smyth admitted the timing and location of the shooting were alarming. Winnipeg police officially moved into their headquarters last year and Smyth said improving downtown safety is a top priority.

“Part of it’s going to depend on the circumstances, which I really don’t know what they are. What I can say is we do have a presence downtown, our headquarters is downtown, that’s a good thing. Certainly downtown and downtown safety is an important goal for us, it forms part of our business plan. I don’t know what happened specifically in this event, but certainly our presence is going to factor in here,” he said.

Smyth provided few details of what he called a “confrontation” — including the age of the victim or whether he was in possession of a weapon. He did not offer any details about the experience level or gender of the officer, how many shots were fired or what sparked the incident. He also couldn’t say if the officer was in uniform or plainclothes.

“I don’t know the details of what brought the officer specifically into the walkway, but it’s not unusual for our officers to use the walkway, either coming or going to work or when they take breaks. But I don’t know the specifics of why the officer was in the walkway,” Smyth said.

A justice source told the Free Press late Monday afternoon the man is believed to have been in possession of some type of “pointy object” such as a pick. The source also believes the man is likely to recover from his injuries.

Some witnesses reported seeing the officer and a security guard following the man just prior to the incident because he was behaving oddly. Smyth said he couldn’t confirm the reports.

“We have all the witnesses upstairs and they are separated and waiting for IIU,” he said, adding police homicide unit members were at the scene, which is Winnipeg Police Service protocol.

“Usually our homicide unit will get involved right away to make sure the scene is preserved and the witnesses are identified and separated. And then everything is kind of held for the IIU,” he said.

Employees of neighbouring offices and businesses who the Free Press spoke to Monday afternoon didn’t hear or see the incident. Many were informed for the first time by media. 

But people who work in the area were a little shaken up.

“It’s too close to home. It’s just too close to home,” said one employee at the Millennium Library, which connects to the skywalk. A regular female patron added: “This isn’t the safest city anymore.”

Satwinder Thindh, who works downtown, said lunch at the Subway was one of the options he and colleagues considered on Monday. “We decided to go to Winnipeg Square instead” where there is a food court. A good thing they did, he said.

However, he was comforted somewhat from early reports the gunfire came from a police officer.

“The fact it was a cop is a little more reassuring than if it was some random dude,” Thindh said.

Smyth said the immediate status of the officer is unclear at this point while the investigation remains ongoing.

“Typically what ends up happening is an officer would be assessed for their behavioural health to make sure they’re in good shape,” he said, adding a decision on when to return to active duty would then have to be made.

Police were expected to release additional details on Tuesday.

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

-with files from Bill Redekop