News briefs for Thursday, March 19, 2026

Autism bill gets second chance

6:21 PM

Legislation promoting a provincial autism strategy is moving forward.

Although the government voted down a private member’s bill from Liberal MLA Cindy Lamoureux earlier this week, it received bipartisan support Thursday to move to committee stage.

If the bill passes, the Manitoba government will be required to create a strategy tackling autism diagnosis wait times and supports for autistic Manitobans and their families.

Dozens of people visited the Manitoba Legislative Building on Tuesday to show their support for the bill.

Wanted man barricaded self in house: police

5:00 PM

Four people are under arrest after police say they barricaded themselves inside a house Thursday morning.

Officers were sent to the 300 block of Mountain Avenue shortly after 10:30 a.m. to arrest a wanted man, a Winnipeg Police Service spokesperson said.

Officers were met with resistance and the situation “evolved into an armed and barricaded event,” the spokesperson said.

Backup was called to the scene, along with crisis negotiators.

Two men and two women eventually exited the residence and were arrested. No injuries were reported.

Police said at 4:30 p.m. the situation was under control and there was no danger to public safety.

Machray and Champlain schools were placed under precautionary hold and secure.

Mountain Avenue, between Charles and Salter streets, and Aikins Street between College and St. John’s avenues would reopen to traffic in the near future, police said.

The WPS are expected to release more information Friday.

IIU to probe arrest of frostbitten man

2:52 PM

Manitoba’s police watchdog is investigating after a man who was arrested suffered frostbite and was hospitalized.

Gypsumville RCMP were investigating a report of a home invasion in Little Saskatchewan First Nation on Saturday when officers tracked multiple suspects to a home in the Rural Municipality of Grahamdale.

Six individuals were taken into custody and one man was taken to hospital for frostbite from exposure to the cold.

The Independent Investigation Unit of Manitoba was notified of the incident Wednesday.

Witnesses or anyone with information about the investigation are asked to contact the IIU toll-free at 1-844-667-6060.

Missing woman from O-Chi-Chak-Ko-Sipi found dead

2:15 PM

A woman who went missing in O-Chi-Chak-Ko-Sipi First Nation earlier this week has been found dead.

The 21-year-old woman’s disappearance was reported to Ste. Rose du Lac RCMP on Wednesday night at about 10 p.m.

RCMP say she had been last seen on Monday at a home in the First Nation.

Mounties, a First Nation safety officer and community members conducted checks in the First Nation, including searching area trails.

RCMP were told just before 9 a.m. on Thursday that the woman had been found dead near Provincial Road 481. Local RCMP and the chief medical examiner’s office are still investigating.

Mounties say her cause of death is not yet known, as investigators are waiting for autopsy results.

Man found in burned-out vehicle on Jarvis Avenue a homicide victim: police

10:13 AM

A man found dead in a burned-out vehicle on Jarvis Avenue adjacent to the Canadian Pacific Kansas City railyard last week was the victim of a homicide, Winnipeg police say.

Officers were called to the 600 block of Jarvis just before 2 p.m. last Friday about the vehicle, which appeared to have been intentionally set on fire.

Investigators found a dead man inside the vehicle and identified him as Vincent Morrissette, 57.

Homicide detectives took over and have determined that Morrissette got into an altercation with another man on the 200 block of Salter Street, prior to the arson of the vehicle.

Detectives arrested their suspect, 32-year-old Fabian Gerald Michelle, on Salter Street on Sunday and charged him with second-degree murder on Monday. He’s been held in custody.

Police are still probing the slaying and have asked anyone with information to call homicide detectives at 204-986-6508 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 204-786-TIPS.

Fire crews rush to Elmwood after police spot burning home

9:16 AM

A vacant home in Winnipeg’s Elmwood neighbourhood burned Thursday morning.

Police patrolling the area spotted the fire inside the two-storey house, located on the 200 block of Johnson Avenue West, around 4 a.m. Those officers began evacuating neighbouring residents as fire crews responded to the blaze, the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service said in a news release.

Firefighters arrived to find heavy smoke and flames. They initially entered the home to fight the fire, but dangerous conditions drove them outside, where they switched to an exterior attack, WFPS said.

Fire crews deployed an aerial ladder and handlines to douse the flames, before reentering the building and extinguishing them. The fire was declared under control at 6:21 a.m., WFPS said.

No one was found in the home and no injuries were reported. The fire remains under investigation. WFPS noted the house was damaged in a previous fire in 2022.

Johnson Avenue West is expected to remain closed Thursday morning as crews complete work on scene. Freezing water from the fire response has created slippery conditions in the area, WFPS said.

Third suspect arrested after Selkirk Avenue slaying

9:11 AM

City police have arrested a third suspect charged in the slaying of a 40-year-old Poplar River First Nation man, who was shot dead inside an apartment block on the 600 block of Selkirk Avenue earlier this month.

Investigators arrested Sebastian Atkinson, 25, in Winnipeg on Tuesday. He was charged with second-degree murder and remains in custody, the Winnipeg Police Service said in a news release Thursday.

Police previously arrested Emmanuel Max Spence, 25, and Thomas Jeremy Spence, 39, on March 9 and March 11, respectively. Both men are charged with manslaughter.

Investigators have determined the suspects and the victim, Kingsley Murray Bruce, were known to each other at the time of the shooting.

Court records show Atkinson has no previous convictions for violent offences, but has been found guilty of a handful of petty crimes in Manitoba. Most recently, he pleaded guilty to failing to attend court last June.