IIU investigating shots fired by police in wild West End incident

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The Independent Investigation Unit of Manitoba is now investigating the string of events. The civilian oversight agency is responsible for probing all serious incidents involving on and off-duty officers.

No injuries were reported, although neighbours told the Free Press at least one cat died in the house fire.

The Winnipeg Police Service said a patrol team initially flagged a Ford F250 that had been reported stolen and attempted to stop it from continuing northbound on the 300 block of Home Street.

Officers angled their vehicle across the street to block the truck, but the driver — who has since been identified as a 48-year-old man — drove up on a boulevard and around the cruiser, WPS said.

Before mounting the curb and speeding away, he had reportedly stopped, reversed into a civilian’s car and subsequently proceeded to drive towards the police cruiser and two officers who had exited it.

“This resulted in the officers discharging their firearms at the stolen vehicle,” states an excerpt of a news release issued early Saturday.

The audio of a video of the incident posted on social media suggests at least 10 shots were fired by police.

Homeowner Patrick Broughton said the area was transformed into a crime scene seemingly out of nowhere, with police “lighting up the street” in broad daylight.

The series of events has sparked safety concerns, especially for the young cyclists and pedestrians who frequent the stretch that is steps from Vimy Ridge Park, Broughton said.

“There’s kids everyday, every evening. It’s not rare to see 10, 12 kids on their bikes, just going up and down here. It’s such a central route,” he added.

Police determined the driver of the stolen truck was accompanied by a 29-year-old female passenger.

The duo evaded the first cruiser, but they crashed into a second one that showed up on the scene and lost control, WPS said. That’s when police said the driver crashed into a house on the 500 block of Home Street.

The initial collision sparked a fire that spread to a fuel tank in the bed of the pick-up truck and exploded.

The occupants fled on foot but were arrested nearby and detained.

Twenty hours after the incident, multiple emergency response vehicles remained parked on and around Home Street. Investigators examined truck tracks and searched for forensic evidence in an area cordoned off with yellow tape.

Two boys who told the Free Press they watched the shooting in real-time rode their bikes up and down a nearby sidewalk on Saturday afternoon. An active police investigation zone limited their route.

“You could probably have seen my skin hairs pop out. That’s how much I was shivering,” one nine-year-old said.

The boy recalled throwing his bike on a neighbour’s lawn and running inside the home with his friends when he saw an officer pull out a gun.

One woman who lives on the street said it was “irresponsible” of officers to be firing shots in such close vicinity to children.

“It was pretty chaotic,” she said, noting that thick, black smoke engulfed the street before firefighters put out the blaze.

The north side of a multi-storey house at 546 Home St. was severely charred. Burnt insulation and other debris was piled in an alley beside the building.

Police confirmed that Animal Services attended the house fire and took multiple pets into their care, but a duty officer did not have any more details on Saturday.

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca