Four teens stabbed in Winnipeg mall attack

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This article was published 07/05/2023 (855 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Mall employees are shaken up after witnessing multiple teenagers get stabbed by a masked stranger wielding a machete and the aftermath of the bloody crime that happened in CF Polo Park shopping centre over the weekend.

Four victims, three 14-year-old boys and a 13-year-old boy, are recovering after a lone suspect attacked them on Friday night in what is believed to be a random event, the Winnipeg Police Service announced Sunday.

A 16-year-old boy is facing a dozen charges — including several counts of assault with a weapon — in connection to the incident and a series of violent pizza delivery robberies and vandalism crimes that officers allege he committed in recent weeks.

John Salazar said he was twisting pretzels at the end of his shift around 8:30 p.m. Friday when he heard shrieking among a group of boys that had been hanging around his first-floor booth and browsing nearby stores throughout the evening.

“Out of nowhere, people started screaming and I turned around and some guy, who was pretty tall, wearing full-black everything — a black ski mask, pulled out a machete and started swinging (at them),” the service worker recalled Sunday.

Salazar said he watched in horror as one of the stabbing victims collapsed to his knees in pain in front of the Apple Store, metres away from him and his colleagues — one of whom immediately called 911 from their protected kiosk.

The suspect “slashed” all four of the boys in the group, although only two of the victims suffered serious injuries, he said, adding one of the latter boys managed to push over a planter to block the perpetrator before he fled on foot.

An early WPS investigation has determined the attacks occurred after the suspect attempted to rob one of the victims and lashed out when he was unsuccessful in doing so.

A news release states special duty constables were dispatched to a scene in the 1400 block of Portage Avenue, where they attended to victims who were suffering a mix of upper and lower-body injuries.

Officers applied tourniquets to two 14-year-old boys’ injuries before the duo was transported to hospital while the remaining teens were treated and medically cleared at the scene, it states.

Within an hour of the first 911 call about the stabbings, officers had located the suspect, who was armed, and arrested him without incident, according to WPS. The 16-year-old was found in the 200 block of Queen Street and an unidentified weapon was recovered from his person and seized as evidence.

Cadillac Fairview did not respond to a request for comment Sunday, but retail workers say the mall beefed up security over the weekend in the wake of the stabbings.

When reached by phone Sunday, Const. Claude Chancy noted city police have issued several releases about worrying events involving youth in recent weeks.

Less than 24 hours before the mall incident, a 15-year-old boy was stabbed after a confrontation with a group of teenagers in a West End school yard located about 1.5 kilometres east of Polo Park.

The recent spate of violence has made retail worker Jenna Maynes question whether she needs to better protect herself. “It makes you wonder if you should carry something for self-defence,” said the retail worker, who was manning a kiosk at Polo Park when “bloody murder screams” broke out Friday.

Multiple mall employees echoed those sentiments Sunday; Salazar said he’s been on high alert in recent days and urged others to pay close attention to their surroundings.

“The Winnipeg Police Service is concerned with any incident, violent or nonviolent, which puts our citizens’ safety at risk,” Chancy said.

The public information officer said investigators have since discovered evidence that ties the mall stabbing suspect to a number of crimes that have taken place since March 10, including two spray painting incidents and three violent robberies of pizza delivery drivers.

The 16-year-old has been charged with five counts of assault with a weapon, four counts of robbery and a single count of aggravated assault, possession of a weapon and mischief under $5,000, respectively.

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Chancy said police are still trying to identify other suspects involved in the April 25, April 26 and April 29 pizza delivery robberies.

The first crime, during which police said several suspects robbed a 28-year-old driver at knifepoint, happened in the 1800 block of Ross Avenue. The two other similar incidents occurred in the 500 block of Dubuc Street.

Anyone with information that could assist investigators is asked to call 204-986-6219 or Crime Stoppers at 204-786-TIPS (8477).

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @macintoshmaggie.

Maggie Macintosh
Education reporter

Maggie Macintosh reports on education for the Free Press. Originally from Hamilton, Ont., she first reported for the Free Press in 2017. Read more about Maggie.

Funding for the Free Press education reporter comes from the Government of Canada through the Local Journalism Initiative.

Every piece of reporting Maggie produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.