Man killed by police in North Point Douglas

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This article was published 02/10/2024 (340 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

City police shot and killed an armed man inside a North Point Douglas apartment building and Manitoba’s police watchdog is investigating.

Officers responded to an apartment complex on the 800 block of Main Street around 12:30 p.m. after receiving reports of a man wielding a pair of edged weapons, police said.

“There were multiple 911 calls on this incident. The male was armed with, and swinging, edged weapons, banging on tenants’ doors,” Winnipeg Police Service acting chief Art Stannard told reporters at a news conference, called on short notice shortly before 6 p.m.

“All the details we received from the callers indicated there was a risk to the public.”

Officers found the man armed in the hallway and deployed a Taser, then shot him, police said.

“These members are dedicated police officers, officers who did not ever want to take a life. They reacted to the actions of this person,” Stannard said.

The acting police chief could not confirm why the Taser failed to stop the man, or how many guns were involved in the shooting.

Officers provided the man emergency care in the form of a tourniquet and chest seal. He was transported to the hospital in critical condition and later died, police said.

No other injuries were reported as a result of the incident, WPS said.

Stannard revealed no details about the man, including his age or whether he was a tenant of the building. His next of kin has not yet been notified about his death, he said.

“At this time, our thoughts are with everybody involved in this tragic incident,” Stannard said.

Stannard stressed he was limited in what he could say because the Independent Investigation Unit had assumed the investigation. The agency steps in any time a person is harmed or killed by police.

He said WPS held the press conference to be transparent.

“We need to get our details out as fast as we can. We owe it to the media and we owe it to the public, so we do the best we can. There’s frustration, though, because we can’t say much,” Stannard said.

“I can’t help that… We have to respect the IIU process.”

Numerous police cars were parked outside North Point Douglas Manor, a 10-storey high-rise at 817 Main Street, throughout the late afternoon and into the evening.

The Free Press spoke by phone with a woman staying in a sixth-floor apartment. She said the shooting happened somewhere on a floor above her.

“We just heard shots,” she said, describing the sound of three “pops.”

“After we heard those, we heard the sirens but we didn’t go out our door. You stay inside when you hear something like that.”

The woman said she did not know who was shot or whether he lived inside the building. She had no idea there was an ongoing incident until the shots rang out, she said.

“It’s pretty sombre,” she said, describing the situation inside the building. “People have died here before, but not by the police.”

Murdo Baker, 24, was shot to death while socializing with a group of people inside a suite at the public housing complex in March.

Dyson Irvin Sumner, 28, was charged with second-degree murder and later arrested in Saskatoon in April.

tyler.searle@freepress.mb.ca