Woman injured while confronting machete-armed teens on East Kildonan street

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This article was published 25/07/2023 (776 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A mother was attacked while defending her daughter from a group of machete-wielding teenage boys on an East Kildonan street Monday night, witnesses told the Free Press.

The woman suffered a cut near her left eye when she was struck with something, said her former partner, who didn’t know whether she was hit with a weapon or a fist.

“I guess she was scared. She thought they were coming after our daughter,” said the man, who declined to give his name. “She’s going to be all right.”

The incident happened at Roch Street and Sydney Avenue at about 9:30 p.m.

Winnipeg Police Service spokeswoman Const. Dani McKinnon said officers responded to reports of youths armed with machetes and bear spray.

The WPS’s Air-1 helicopter and a canine unit joined the area search for the suspects, who ran away. No one had been arrested as of Tuesday afternoon, said McKinnon.

Detectives from the major crimes unit are investigating.

The victim’s ex-partner said the incident was sparked by some kind of dispute involving teenagers.

He didn’t know the extent of it because he had not yet talked at length with his teenage daughter to learn more about what happened.

She was inside his home with a friend when the boys, who were about 13 to 16 years old, arrived with weapons, he said.

“I came home and all these kids were outside my house with machetes and knives,” the man said outside his house Tuesday. “It looked like a war zone. They weren’t scared to swing (the machetes).”

He estimated six or seven teenage boys were present.

The man said his ex-partner was attacked when she tried to get the group to leave. The teens ran off in different directions.

Police officers and Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service members arrived quickly, the man said.

He said a bandage was put over the woman’s cut, and she did not have to go to a hospital.

McKinnon said the victim declined medical attention.

The WPS’s public information office did not know if the woman’s injury was caused by a weapon or a physical assault.

A woman who lives nearby said she saw teenage boys “circling” in front of a home where the victim’s daughter was inside.

The woman didn’t witness the attack, but she called 911 when she saw the injured mother, who was bleeding near her left eyebrow, at the intersection.

“She was kind of going after the kids because they were harassing her daughter,” said the woman, who declined to give her name. “She just said, ‘Nobody is going to come after my kid like that.’”

The woman was shaken by the incident.

“It’s very unusual (for the area) and scary,” she said.

The victim’s ex-partner said he sent their daughter away for the night for her own safety after the attack. He feared the group would return.

“Society is crazy now. These kids have zero accountability, and they know it,” he said. “It’s getting worse and worse.”

Machetes and bear spray canisters have become a common weapon in attacks or robberies carried out by teenagers in Winnipeg.

On July 14, police charged a 12-year-old boy with robbery and aggravated assault, following a daylight machete attack near Spence Street and Cumberland Avenue.

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A 17-year-old boy suffered a serious injury to his face, said police, who were seeking a second suspect.

Police averaged a report of a knife crime every 6.7 hours and a bear spray crime every 7.7 hours in 2022 involving suspects of all ages, the WPS annual report reveals.

In response to a surge in bear spray attacks, the Manitoba government announced new rules in April that require retailers to obtain photo identification from customers who purchase the product. Retailers must send the buyer’s information to the province and register serial numbers when more than two cans are purchased.

chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @chriskitching

Chris Kitching
Reporter

Chris Kitching is a general assignment reporter at the Free Press. He began his newspaper career in 2001, with stops in Winnipeg, Toronto and London, England, along the way. After returning to Winnipeg, he joined the Free Press in 2021, and now covers a little bit of everything for the newspaper. Read more about Chris.

Every piece of reporting Chris 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.