News briefs for Friday, August 18, 2023

Ammonia leak at River Heights Community Centre

11:42 AM

Firefighters were sent to the River Heights Community Centre early Friday because of an ammonia link.

Crews were sent to the Grosvenor Avenue building shortly after midnight, after an ammonia alarm sounded.

Crews detected ammonia coming from the building. The Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service’s hazmat unit was sent in and found ammonia buildup in areas throughout the building.

“Crews successfully mitigated the ammonia leak and ventilated the building,” the WFPS said. “No occupants were found, and no injuries were reported.”

Ammonia is used in ice rink refrigeration systems, the WFPS said in a news release.

Police search for Sarnia man who went missing on way to Winnipeg

12:57 PM

Ontario Provincial Police are searching for a man travelling from Sarnia, Ont. to Winnipeg by electrically assisted bicycle who has since gone missing.

Police say the 34-year-old man, whose first name is Andrew, is 6-2 in height and about 190 lbs, with brown hair and a short beard. His last name has not been made public.

He was last seen in Kakabeka Falls, Ont., which is about 30 kilometres west of Thunder Bay, at a gas station on August 8. He spent the night in the area and spoke with a relative by phone that morning, but has not been heard from since.

Police ask anyone who has been in contact or knows where he might be to call the OPP at 1-888-310-1122 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-8477.

IIU probing Winnipeg police arrest that saw man break rib, facial bone

3:30 PM

The province’s law enforcement oversight agency is investigating after a man suffered a broken rib and fractured bone in his face while Winnipeg police officers were arresting him early Wednesday morning.

The Independent Investigation Unit said Winnipeg police notified them of the incident on Wednesday. The police service told the IIU that officers were called to a parking lot on the 1500 block of Regent Avenue at 5:02 a.m. Wednesday for a domestic disturbance.

The officers saw the man and woman and tried to talk to the man, who then ran before turning and confronting police, according to the IIU. An officer used their Taser on the man, who was then arrested.

He was taken to the Health Sciences Centre for an assessment and doctors found he had the fracture in his face and a broken rib. The IIU did not make clear how the man came to be injured during the arrest.

The IIU has asked anyone with information or video footage of the arrest to call investigators at 1-844-667-6060.

Manitoba man identified in brutal Florida cold case slaying

3:41 PM

Police in Florida have identified the victim of a brutal 1997 slaying as a Manitoba man.

The cold case unit of Flagler County Sheriff’s Office in the American state identified the man as Robert Bruce McPhail, who was 58. He was originally from Kenora and had lived in Winnipeg, but moved to south Florida in the mid-1990s.

Sheriff’s office deputies found McPhail’s body floating in an Intracoastal waterway on Sept. 10, 1997. He had been bound, shot and stabbed multiple times before he was dumped in the water, the sheriff’s office said Thursday.

The Florida cold-case cops submitted the victim’s bones to an American forensic genetic genealogy company in 2021, which helped identify the victim as McPhail. In 1997, a company made a facial approximation of the victim out of clay to try to identify him.

The county sheriff’s office said the victim had a passion for boats. The office has announced no arrests. The county is just north of Daytona Beach.