Police raid Osborne Village home

A chaotic scene unfolded in Osborne Village early Wednesday morning as the Winnipeg Police Service raided a Roslyn Road house, closing the adjacent street as officers in tactical gear armed with long guns worked to coax people out from the bungalow.

Several nearby residents said officers were focused on the one-storey house at 135 Roslyn Rd. directly behind the Shell gas station. The neighbours described the house as a frequent source of problems.

A police vehicle was parked in its driveway Wednesday morning, while a fire truck was stationed in front of the property. Officers were seen taping off the house around 9:45 a.m.

Police said there was no “imminent threat” to public safety but have not yet confirmed what officers are investigating at the house.

Part of a window on the side of the house was smashed, as was one of the panes on a front window. There were several smaller holes in a back window. Tactical officers left the scene around 9:30 a.m.

Officers in plain clothes and gas masks could be seen working on the property, examining a vehicle parked in the backyard, shortly before 10 a.m.

The bungalow appeared to be the site of illicit drug sales and unsavoury activity, said the neighbours, who were pleased to see police take action. They said the residents of the house recently put in security cameras on the exterior and sign warning of a “dangerous dog.”

One of the neighbours said she and her partner woke up at about 6:15 a.m. to several loud bangs that sounded like gunshots.

The couple deduced that the sounds were likely police shooting tear gas canisters or flashbang grenades — a less-lethal explosive that produces a loud noise and blinding flash of light — into the home.

Officers armed with assault rifles were stationed outside the house, as was the police service’s armoured vehicle.

She heard police using a loudspeaker to inform the people inside the home they had an arrest warrant for one of them and another warrant to search the property. She also saw police flying drones into the house.

A video she took, viewed by the Free Press, showed two females leaving the house with a dog at about 6:20 a.m., as what appeared to be tear gas billowed out from the house. The dog ran off, while officers handcuffed the two women.

Shortly after, a man tried to leave the house from the back but was stopped and detained by police.

Police remained at the house, speaking to a man who remained inside via the loudspeaker, for several hours, the neighbour said. The man was arrested shortly after 9 a.m., said the neighbour, and police activity began to wind down.

Another nearby resident said she awoke to what sounded “like a cannon” shortly after 7 a.m., but stayed inside until the situation was under control, around 10 a.m.

A Shell gas station employee said Wednesday morning a staff member working the overnight shift also heard what sounded like gunshots shortly after 6 a.m.

A man in an adjacent condo building heard a message over the building’s intercom advising people to stay inside while police worked, he said.

Osborne Street was open to traffic throughout the morning, but police encouraged drivers to use a different route. Roslyn Road was of closed to traffic throughout much of the morning rush hour.

The nearby Shoppers Drug Mart and gas station were closed off while police worked in the area.

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca