Teen robbed, stabbed in Polo Park mall

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This article was published 04/01/2024 (660 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A 15-year-old boy was robbed and stabbed inside Polo Park mall Tuesday night — the latest in a string of attacks and thefts at the city’s largest shopping centre.

Police officers were patrolling the Winnipeg mall in a crackdown on retail theft and violent crime when they got the stabbing report at about 7:30 p.m. When they got to the scene, the victim was receiving first aid from a security guard.

The teen was taken to hospital in unstable condition, but later upgraded to stable, police said.

Investigators believe the victim was confronted and robbed by a group of people inside the mall and then chased and stabbed as he tried to escape.

Other officers in the surrounding nearby area arrested a male suspect after a foot chase, the Winnipeg Police Service said in a news release Thursday.

An 18-year-old man faces robbery-related charges.

It’s the third time in the past nine months a youth has been the victim of an armed robbery inside the Polo Park mall.

“The safety and security of our shopping centre community is our top priority… We are grateful that the victim is recovering,” general manager Peter Havens wrote in an email Thursday.

Two days after the incident, just as news of the stabbing was spreading, the mall was a gathering spot in celebration of the second annual National Ribbon Skirt Day. The event drew crowds of Indigenous women, residential school survivors and supporters.

Among them was Sherry Gott, Manitoba advocate for children and youth.

Gott said her office hadn’t yet been informed of the recent stabbing, but emphasized the need for more resources for youth, including crisis response and mental health programming.

“It’s really unfortunate that another youth is involved in such an incident,” she said Thursday.

In response to past violent incidents — in particular the death of Eisha Hudson, a 16-year-old shot and killed by police while fleeing a reported robbery in April 2020 — Gott has called for changes to the way police interact with youth.

Gott said she would like to see the province implement a youth-specific model of its alternative response to citizens in crisis program. (It pairs plain-clothes Winnipeg police officers and clinicians to help people experiencing a mental health crisis in non-criminal and non-emergent situations.)

She also called for more government investment in programs to prevent young people from getting involved in violence or criminal activity.

“There is a lack of resources for our youth in response to the crisis that’s going on, so I think we need to have something in place quickly,” Gott said.

Meantime, while some Polo Park shoppers expressed discomfort about recent violence at the mall, others said they still felt safe.

“I’d be more concerned at Portage Place,” said Richard Matos, referring to perceptions of increased violence in downtown Winnipeg. “I’ll just continue on, business as usual.”

It’s important not to live in fear, said a trio of women who had been taking part in National Ribbon Skirt Day events.

Belinda Vandenbroeck said she’d heard about the stabbing on the news Thursday morning, but didn’t think twice about coming to the mall that afternoon.

“It’s a time for us to say, ‘This is our day,’ and we’re not giving it up for anybody, no matter what,” she said while having lunch with Lana Harper and Karen Harper.

Ribbon Skirt Day is federally recognized, inspired by a Saskatchewan girl who was shamed in school for wearing a ribbon skirt.

The women expressed sympathy for the victim and also said they would like to see those responsible get the help they need.

“And to the individual that did this, if they need help, we’ll be there,” Vandenbroeck added.

“We don’t know the particulars, and yet there’s so much help out there in this world and people don’t get it, they don’t want that help,” Lana Harper said. “But if we were all to have such a fearful life, then we wouldn’t be able to enjoy the things that life offers us.”

“You can’t live in fear,” Karen Harper agreed.

City police are asking anyone with information about Tuesday’s incident to call the major crimes unit at 204-986-6219 or Crime Stoppers at 204-786-8477 (TIPS).

Previously, a group of teens was arrested after an Aug. 11 incident inside Polo Park involving a violent confrontation between two groups of youth and a brandished gun.

On May 5, a masked male wielding a machete attacked four boys (three 14-year-olds and a 13-year-old) at Polo Park. At the time, police said a 16-year-old suspect tried to rob one of the victims.

katie.may@winnipegfreepress.com