Police seek suspects in Sunday bear spray assaults

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 20/02/2023 (932 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winnipeg police have confirmed multiple victims were injured in a spree of assaults with bear spray linked to a pair of suspects early Sunday.

Major crimes officers, who have taken over the investigation, have not yet found the two men they believe were involved in the spate of violence within a few blocks of the West End and downtown.

“No arrests yet as far as I know, and I spoke to the major crimes unit this morning, and they were still out and about looking for these individuals,” said spokesman Const. Claude Chancy Monday afternoon.

Police officers on foot and in vehicles combed the area looking for the two men on Sunday, but did not find them.

Winnipeg Police Service officers were first called to Broadway and Furby Street at about 7:30 a.m., where two suspects wielding “unknown” weapons were spotted chasing two victims, Chancy said.

Those victims have not yet spoken to police, but the descriptions given by the caller matched those of the suspects in the other incidents.

Officers were then called to Portage Avenue and Sherbrook Street at 9:50 a.m., where a 30-year-old man had been assaulted with bear spray by two men. The suspects ran off before police arrived. Fire paramedics treated the victim on the scene.

At about 10 a.m., police were called to the 300 block of Langside Street, near the University of Winnipeg student residence McFeetors Hall, where a 24-year-old woman had been injured in the upper body and hit with bear spray in an assault by two men. She was taken to hospital.

University of Winnipeg officials said the victim was a resident of the hall, which is just north of Portage Avenue, in a social media post Sunday.

Officers were called to the Colony Square apartments on St. Mary Avenue between Balmoral and Good streets at about 12:45 p.m., where they found a 33-year-old man who had been sprayed by a pair of assailants. He didn’t need medical help, police said.

Police described the possibly armed-and-dangerous suspects as men with thin builds, around 20-years old and between 5’6” and 5’8” tall. They were wearing black, hooded bomber jackets with dark jeans.

Police ask anyone with information on the two men or the incidents to call 204-986-6219 or Crime Stoppers at 204-786-8477.

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @erik_pindera