Bike frame becomes gun barrel: police urge public to report thefts before chop shops turn stolen parts into deadly weapons

A Winnipeg police inspector has pointed to the recent and alarming seizure of a loaded gun made out of bicycle parts, as she implored the public to report bike thefts.

Winnipeg Police Service Insp. Helen Peters, who commands the force’s central district, said officers found the loaded homemade gun when they were called to a derelict building in September.

The weapon, made out of a tube from a bicycle frame, was loaded.

“We located a zipgun that was fashioned out of bicycle framework and had a live shotgun shell loaded inside of it,” said Peters, who said she couldn’t provide further details on the seizure Thursday.

“We have concerns not only for the theft of bicycles that are being traded for money… or for drugs, but we’re also concerned about bicycles that are being taken apart and then used to create weapons.”

Homemade guns, including some built of bicycle parts, are not a new trend on Winnipeg streets. Officers began seeing the zipguns as far back as 2019 and 2020.

But the inspector highlighted the handmade gun Thursday as part of a plea to the public to help police lay charges that will stick in court, when they seize bicycles and parts they suspect are stolen from so-called chop shops or elsewhere.

“We know that bike chop shops can be linked to the creation of weapons — weapons such as zipguns — so obviously, it’s not just a theft concern then, it’s even more so a public-safety matter,” said Peters.

“The reason I wanted to bring it to the community’s attention is we want to pursue these criminal investigations and we want to identify the people that are creating these weapons, that are taking these bikes apart.”

But, she said, it’s hard to lay charges when bicycles aren’t reported stolen.

“We have concerns not only for the theft of bicycles that are being traded for money… or for drugs, but we’re also concerned about bicycles that are being taken apart and then used to create weapons.”

“We need to prove that an item is stolen when we recover it, so in order to do that, we need a police report number and the information that is reported by the owner,” said Peters. “There needs to be a report that it’s stolen, but we also need to be able to positively identify it.”

She said people can register their bikes, or at least take photographs of their bicycle, its serial number and any recognizable markings.

“It’s really easy for us to then identify it. We may not be able to identify the person that stole the bike, but we can certainly identify the person who has possession of that stolen property,” said Peters.

“When you think of that crime of turning bicycle parts into weapons… we really need to get to the source of the problem and that’s a person that’s willing to accept stolen property and use it for serious offences.”

She said handmade guns are dangerous to the public and the people who make and carry them.

“It could go off at any time,” she said.

Police are seeing an increase in the number of people carrying weapons, which Peters linked, at least in part, to the methamphetamine crisis on Winnipeg streets.

“Frequently people tell us they’re carrying weapons to protect themselves, but I think part of meth use is this rise of paranoia with someone who frequently uses meth — and their belief that there’s this need to keep themselves safe against other people who might be violent toward them,” she said.

“That may or may not be true, because again, the level of paranoia just grows.”

Police have received an increasing number of calls about suspected bike chop shops in the past year, she said.

Parts are also frequently changed out to alter a stolen bicycle’s appearance.

Investigators went as far as obtaining a warrant in August to search a structure at a homeless encampment on the bank of the Red River near Gomez Street as they probed a possible chop shop.

It’s believed to be the first warrant secured by city police for a structure at a homeless camp.

Police were contacted after a city employee, identified as a “senior adviser on homelessness,” reported he had been conducting a walk-through of the encampment on Aug. 11 when he “noticed a large structure that he did not believe was being used as a dwelling,” wrote an officer in a search warrant document filed in court.

“Within the confines of this structure (the city employee) observed 40 to 60 bike frames, tires, as well as several intact bicycles that (the employee) considered ‘high end.’”

The city employee was concerned the stash of bike parts did not lawfully belong to anybody at the camp.

Police executed the warrant on Aug. 27, seizing a slew of stolen goods, including 50 bicycle frames, 77 tires, 53 wheels, a gas generator, lawnmower, pressure washer and wheelchair.

Peters said at the time police wanted to treat the structure the same as a residence and obtain a search warrant before investigating.

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca