News briefs for Wednesday, December 28, 2022

The cause of a fire in a commercial building in Point Douglas is under investigation.

The Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service said one of its rescue units was driving by the building in the first 100 block of Point Douglas Avenue when members noticed the fire at about 4:22 p.m. on Tuesday.

Fire crews fought the fire from inside the building and declared it under control at about 4:53 p.m.

Firefighters searched the building and found no one inside.

No damage estimate is available, the WFPS said in a news release Tuesday night.

A convicted killer who escaped from an Ellice Avenue minimum security correctional facility on Boxing Day turned herself in to police.

The Correctional Service of Canada said Joyce Kringuk, 42, had fled from a backdoor at the minimum security Eagle Women’s Healing Lodge at about 10:15 p.m. on Monday, where she was serving a life sentence for second-degree murder.

On Tuesday morning just before noon, she turned herself into Winnipeg police. The correctional service and the lodge are investigating the circumstances of her escape.

According to Nunavut newspaper Nunatsiaq News, Kringuk was convicted in 2012 of shooting and killing her husband, a wildlife officer.

A vehicle-theft suspect who came to police’s attention following a car crash in Sage Creek earlier this month has now been charged with stealing more than a dozen vehicles and equipment worth more than $140,000.

The 40-year-old male suspect, who had been released on bail after his Dec. 19 arrest, is now back in custody facing additional charges.

He’s accused of using a previously stolen 2001 Dodge Ram to steal a boat, trailers and a John Deere tractor from a business in the first 100 block of Melnick Road on Nov. 6.

Then on Dec. 2, he’s accused of stealing a flat bed trailer loaded with a 1996 Toyota Tacoma from a business in the 3900 block of Portage Avenue. Between Dec. 16 and 17, he’s accused of going back to the business on Melnick Road, breaking into a shed and obtaining keys to a vehicle parked on the property, and stealing a pickup truck and utility trailer loaded with two snowmobiles.

On Dec. 18, he’s accused of breaking into a storage unit in the first 100 block of Creek Bend Road, but a security guard intervened and the suspect fled.

Between Dec. 18 and 19, the suspect is accused of stealing a utility trailer loaded with a lawnmower and John Deere utility vehicle.

The man was arrested Dec. 19 after allegedly attempting to steal a utility vehicle from a business. An employee followed the suspect in a vehicle and the suspect allegedly rammed the other vehicle. He tried to escape and flee from police, and was ultimately Tased and placed under arrest, the Winnipeg Police Service previously stated.

As part of their investigation, officers executed a search warrant at the suspect’s home in East St. Paul.

Winnipeg police have arrested a man accused in a November shooting death.

Police officers who were called to an apartment on the 500 block of Furby Street for a report of shots fired found Daniel Michael George Cook, 29, severely injured inside a suite early on Nov. 26. He was pronounced dead in hospital, becoming Winnipeg’s 50th homicide victim of the year.

Homicide detectives identified a suspect and arrested him near Sargent Avenue and Agnes Street on Dec. 21. Police believe the accused and the victim, who were associates of some kind, got into a dispute that escalated.

Tyler Alexander Severight, 26, is charged with second-degree murder. He was detained by police.

A man’s hip was allegedly dislocated while fleeing an arrest by RCMP in Shamattawa.

Police were called to Riverside Road in the fly-in northern community at about 9 p.m. on Dec. 23 where they found a suspect who then ran away. The 18-year-old man slipped before an officer took him to the ground, according to the RCMP.

The man told police he was hurt and he was taken to the nursing station. Medical staff determined his hip had been dislocated and he was sent to Thompson General Hospital for treatment.

RCMP notified the Independent Investigation Unit, which is mandated to probe serious police incidents in Manitoba, about the incident the next day. The IIU asks witnesses or others with information or video footage of the incident to contact investigators at 1-844-667-6060.

Five Manitoba public transit systems facing pandemic-driven revenue shortfalls are getting a boost from the federal and provincial governments.

The province said it will set aside up to $13.4 million in next year’s budget for transit operating shortfalls in Winnipeg, Brandon, Thompson, Selkirk and Flin Flon.

In total, $34 million will be allocated to public transit systems over two years, according to the government.

The funding is being provided as part of an agreement with Ottawa, which said it would spend up to $750 million to support revenue shortfalls for public transit systems.

Winnipeg Transit is projecting a 17.2-million deficit, including $6.2 million in lost revenue and $11 million in extra expenses, owing to lagging ridership and increased fuel costs.

Southbound Tache Avenue will be closed between Dollard Boulevard and Goulet Street for traffic signals work beginning Thursday morning.

The area will be closed at 9 a.m. and reopen at 1 p.m. Police officers will be there to direct traffic for emergency vehicles accessing St. Boniface Hospital.

Motorists are advised to use alternate routes and be prepared for longer driving times. Winnipeg Transit buses will be rerouted during the closure.

A person was found dead in a home following a fire in Leaf Rapids early Wednesday.

Mounties were called to a fire in a residence on Keyask Bay in the northern community at about 1:10 a.m. Wednesday. Officers spoke with a woman who had escaped the house with minor injuries from the flames, and who said another woman was still inside, RCMP said.

The officers tried to get inside to search for the woman, but the flames and smoke pushed them back, RCMP said.

The local fire department extinguished the flames and located remains inside the home, but the body will require an autopsy by the provincial medical examiner’s office to be identified. The Office of the Fire Commissioner is investigating the cause of the blaze.