Police charge teenager in standoff

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This article was published 09/11/2018 (2831 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A 16-year-old male is facing seven attempted murder charges and more than 20 other charges for allegedly firing a barrage of shots at police during a standoff on Wednesday.

Winnipeg Police Service Const. Rob Carver said at a news conference on Friday all seven counts of attempted murder are related to shots fired at police officers, and the other charges are related to firearms and weapons.

The suspect had been wanted by police for allegedly violating a supervision order.

Multiple shots were reported fired at officers from inside a house during a five-hour standoff on the 300 block of Bannerman Avenue near Salter Street. The standoff ended around 6:20 p.m., after police shot canisters of tear gas into the house and arrested a suspect. No one was injured.

On Friday, police vehicles and tape continued to block off the area around the house and investigators remained at the scene.

“We’ve got a 16-year-old youth in custody for just a massive amount of some of the most serious charges I’ve seen,” said Carver, a 25-year police veteran.

Carver said the alleged shooter had more than one firearm, “and all were long guns.”

“I’ve really never seen anything like this in my career. I’ve talked to a number of officers who were there… There’s a lot of trauma involved here. Officers are going to struggle with this for a while, as will any of the (area) residents,” he said.

“This is a very difficult event to process, both for our officers who were out there being shot at, as well as for people being told they have to stay in their houses and in the basement.”

Carver said the suspect is also believed to be involved in two other shooting incidents on the same day.

Around 6 a.m., someone outside a home on the 600 block of Magnus Avenue used a rifle to fire numerous shots into the residence. Several people were inside, but no one was hurt.

Shots were later fired at a home on the 300 block of Aikins Street by a person outside the residence who had a rifle. There were several people inside, but no one was injured.

A police canine unit tracked a suspect to the home on Bannerman Avenue. Five people were taken into custody and later released.

General patrol officers and cadets were then stationed at the front and rear of the Bannerman home, police said Friday. The suspect returned around 12:30 p.m., but managed to gain entrance to the house.

Multiple shots were fired from inside the house shortly before 1 p.m., the WPS said. No one was hurt, but the WPS armoured response vehicle and a patrol car were struck numerous times.

“We did what we needed to do, and we did it in a way that everyone was able to walk away safely. Is there going to be lasting effects? Absolutely,” Carver said.

He said the suspect had his face covered when he accessed the Bannerman property and police didn’t know his identity or age prior to his arrest.

“In a situation like this, you’ve got somebody shooting at you from in a residence, and you just know that your life and lives of your colleagues beside you are at risk,” he said.

“After the fact, that’s (the boy’s age) something that probably impacts everybody, weighs on everyone’s mind.”

WPS Chief Danny Smyth said Thursday nine officers from various units are on administrative leave and will be assessed by a psychologist before returning to duty.

The standoff was the third armed-and-barricaded incident in the city in six days, which Smyth said was an “unprecedented” number in such a short span.

Carver said around 100 police officers were involved in the final incident, a higher number than the other armed-and-barricaded situations, because there was an active shooter.

Police said a shooting Tuesday night in the area of Bannerman Avenue and Salter Street, where a 23-year-old man was shot in the upper body by an unknown male and female, appears unrelated at this point.