Shoppers pepper sprayed as teens scuffle in Walmart

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This article was published 19/03/2024 (541 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A city Walmart was forced to close its doors Monday night after shoppers were hit with pepper spray when a fight broke out between a group of teens.

Winnipeg police were called to the Walmart at 1576 Regent Ave. West around 7:20 p.m. about a fight inside the store that escalated outside the business, Winnipeg Police Service public information officer Cst. Jason Michalyshen said Tuesday.

One of the teens had a BB gun and another used pepper spray during the melee, police said.

“The reason for the fight … we don’t know for sure,” Michalyshen said, adding other shoppers fled the store due to “feeling the effects of pepper spray.”

No one was hurt and attending officers cautioned the group of youths, who ranged between 12 and 14-years-old. No charges were laid. The store was closed for some time after the incident. It reopened to shoppers Tuesday.

Violence and theft, especially among youth, has been escalating at retail stores in recent months, prompting the WPS to station more officers in stores for next week’s spring break.

“You won’t know when and you won’t know where we are, but we will be out there,” WPS major crimes Insp. Jennifer McKinnon said at a news conference Monday afternoon, hours before the Walmart scuffle broke out.

Michalyshen said there were no special officers stationed at the Regent store.

John Graham, the Retail Council of Canada’s director of government relations for the Prairies, said recent violence in retail stores are causing safety and economic issues above and beyond petty theft.

“It’s the disruption it causes,” he said, adding the retail council is hearing of dozens of incidents happening at stores daily. The council has been working directly with businesses to address the rising violence and its underlying causes.

“There’s a certain element of retail crime that has an underlying issue of poverty, but it’s also being driven by career criminals that are undeterred by consequences or safety of shoppers,” Graham said.

The incident underscores the need for officers stationed in retail stores to deter theft and violence, Michalyshen said.

nicole.buffie@freepress.mb.ca