Man unstable after being shot by police in Osborne Village

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This article was published 13/07/2022 (1418 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winnipeg police shot a man outside an Osborne Village apartment block Wednesday, after Tasers and orders from officers failed, one witness says.

Police said the man was taken to hospital in unstable condition after the incident, which took place at 3 p.m. outside 391 Gertrude Ave.

Police said officers responded after it was reported a male was armed with a gun.

“Officers from the north, west, and east districts, assisted by tactical support unit members, located and made contact with a male armed with a gun in front of a residence. During the incident, a firearm was discharged by one of the officers striking the adult male,” a release said.

The Independent Investigative Unit of Manitoba, which looks into all serious incidents involving on- or -off-duty police, was later called to the scene.

Following the shooting, a rifle or shotgun was visible on the building steps. Three Taser electroshock weapon devices, with their wires attached, were on the ground in front of the steps, while a reflective vest and a piece of clothing were nearby.

An employee at a nearby gym said he was at the front desk when he saw police running toward the apartment block.

Gabe Reichert said he saw dozens of officers, and heard them yelling at someone. “We heard them screaming, ‘Put it down, put it down, put it down.’”

“We saw them tase the guy. Obviously, he didn’t go down, because they ended up shooting him. We saw it. We saw the smoke go off, we heard the gunshot, obviously, and that was about the end of it.”

Reichert said an ambulance arrived and left not long after the gunshot.

“It was freaky to watch,” he said.

The entrance of the Gertrude Avenue building was blocked off during the afternoon, and three police vehicles were parked on the street in front.

Reichert said while he hadn’t witnessed something of this magnitude before, crime isn’t an anomaly in the area.

“I’ve seen people getting arrested in this parking lot a few times. There’s always a lot of drug issues in this neighbourhood… there’s a lot of crime that goes on over here,” he said.

“We refuse to keep a bike lock out here for our members because they always get stolen. Osborne hasn’t been a nice neighbourhood in a while.”

malak.abas@freepress.mb.ca