Parents on alert, police seek child-luring suspect

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This article was published 13/04/2023 (1266 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Parents of children at an Elmwood neighbourhood school are on high alert, after an apparent child-luring incident nearby.

“It’s horrifying,” said Brittany Thompson, who picked up her children Thursday afternoon outside River Elm School. “This is very concerning. This is what parents are so afraid of.”

Thompson’s son and daughter attend the Winnipeg school, which is located a few blocks away from where police said a 10-year-old child was approached by a stranger.

The child was walking near the intersection of Watt Street and Thames Avenue around 12:30 Wednesday, when a stranger in a small dark-blue sedan stopped and repeatedly asked if he wanted candy, the Winnipeg Police Service said in a news release.

The boy declined and fled to safety. He reported the incident to school staff, who notified parents and police.

WPS described the incident as “suspicious.”

The suspect is described as a tall, white man with a thin build. He was wearing a black sweater with a written “Zoo York” brand logo on the side, grey pants and red-and-yellow shoes.

River Elm teaches around 300 students from nursery to Grade 6. Parents in the area said the child involved is a student there, but neither police nor the Winnipeg School Division have confirmed it.

Thompson said her son was also approached by a man in the area while walking to school last winter. The child fled, and the family did not report the incident to police. She now drives her children to school both ways.

Thompson was glad to be notified by the school, but said she has concerns about the larger Chalmers neighbourhood, which logged 269 reported violent crimes between December 2021 and November 2022. (The data is the latest available from the WPS.)

“(The police) need to have somebody patrolling more often because its getting really bad with people coming around here,” Thompson said.

Jessica Bricklian has three children enrolled at River Elm. After receiving the school’s alert, she sat them down to discuss the incident.

“Parents should make their kids aware that there are dangerous people out there,” she said. “It’s not just on the internet.”

Bricklian said a teacher at the school walks with her children in the morning, and she picks them up every afternoon.

The Winnipeg School Division advises parents to report any suspicious activity involving children to police and always notifies families after an incident, spokesperson Radean Carter said by phone.

“It’s always a concern for us when a stranger approaches a child or there is any suggestion of luring. That’s very dangerous and we definitely stay alert,” she said. “If its happening in the area of the school staff, are on the alert to look for the description of that person.”

Police assume the investigation once a report is filed and provide updates to the school as it develops. Carter encouraged parents to talk about stranger danger with their children.

Child abuse investigators ask anyone with information regarding Thursday’s incident, including home surveillance video, to call 204-986-3296 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 204-786-8477.

tyler.searle@freepress.mb.ca