News briefs for Friday, September 15, 2023

Man dies in Mulvey Avenue shooting

11:13 AM

Homicide detectives are probing the shooting death of a man in an apartment in the Earl Grey area on Wednesday night.

Patrol officers were called to the apartment on the 600 block of Mulvey Avenue at about 11:10 p.m., the Winnipeg Police Service said Friday.

They found Damion Wayne Skrumeda, 46, suffering from a gunshot wound. He later died, and homicide detectives took over the investigation, but they have not yet made any arrests.

Skrumeda’s death is the 25th slaying of the year and the fifth in a row in which the victim was shot.

Police ask anyone with information about the shooting, including video surveillance, to call homicide detectives at 204-986-6508 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 204-786-9477.

Missing Selkirk boy, 15, found

12:48 PM

RCMP have found a missing 15-year-old Selkirk boy.

The teen was last seen at a home on Selkirk’s Main Street at about 9 p.m. Thursday, RCMP said.

He was safely located Friday.

Brier gets smokin’ new sponsor

1:02 PM

The curling in Regina will be cooking in March.

The Canadian men’s championship will be called the Montana’s Brier after the chain restaurant took over as the main sponsor, Curling Canada announced Friday.

Montana’s BBQ & Bar is just the fifth title sponsor of the marquee sporting event, which dates back to 1927. It follows in the footsteps of Macdonald Tobacco, Labatt Breweries, Nokia and Tim Hortons.

The ’24 Brier goes March 1-10 at the Brandt Centre in Regina.

PCs promise to cut PST on restaurant purchases

2:36 PM

A re-elected Progressive Conservative government would cut the PST on restaurant meals to encourage Manitobans to eat out.

Red River North candidate Jeff Wharton announced the campaign commitment outside a West St. Paul Dairy Queen on Friday.

Wharton said the Tories would eliminate the PST on food and non-alcoholic drinks purchased from restaurants.

The cut was billed as way to drive customers to restaurants and support the hospitality sector.

The cut would cost the provincial treasury $25 million annually.

Woman, 31, shot outside her home in Kinosao Sipi Cree Nation

3:15 PM

A 31-year-old woman was shot outside of her home in Kinosao Sipi Cree Nation on Thursday night.

RCMP say Mounties from the Norway House detachment raced to the home at about 10 p.m., where they found the victim with non-life threatening injuries. Her four kids were inside the home at the time.

Officers were told a group of suspects ran into the nearby bush, where they began to search before hearing several more gunshots, RCMP say. The Mounties also found a shotgun in a case along with ammunition.

Police spoke with witnesses and cleared houses in the area, finding another home had been shot, though no one was hurt. Inside one of the homes, Mounties arrested a 16-year-old boy and located another gun they think was involved.

However, RCMP believe five people were involved in shooting at the first home and are still seeking information, asking anyone with tips to call the Norway House detachment at 204-359-4955 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-8477.

Manitoba government confirms website crash due to cyberattack

3:50 PM

The Manitoba government now says its websites crashed Thursday due to a cyberattack.

A provincial spokesperson said Friday afternoon that an investigation into the “unplanned service interruption,” which saw government websites and web services crash through much of Thursday, found evidence suggesting it was the result of external activity.

Asked for clarification, the spokesperson said it would be accurate to describe the incident as a cyberattack, but noted there was no demand for ransom, as is common with cyberattacks.

There were no initial indications it was a deliberate attack, the government official said.

The spokesperson added the province has brought in additional security measures to its web infrastructure and called in external experts to review the measures.