News briefs for Wednesday, December 17, 2025

Hofer, Blues blank Jets

9:39 PM

ST. LOUIS – It was another bad time for the offensive well to run dry.

In the first meeting with the St. Louis Blues since the Manitoba Miracle in the opening round of last season’s Stanley Cup playoffs, the Winnipeg Jets were unable to get a puck past Manitoban Joel Hofer in a 1-0 loss on Wednesday.

Hofer made 24 saves for the fifth shutout of his NHL career.

Blues forward Pavel Buchnevich forced Dylan DeMelo into a defensive zone turnover that led to a goal by Justin Faulk for the only goal of the contest.

The Jets, who dropped to 15-16-2 for the season, continue a three-game road trip on Friday against the league-leading Colorado Avalanche.

With the win, the Blues leapfrog the Jets in the Central Division standings by one point – though Winnipeg has two games in hand.

It’s the fourth time in 33 games the Jets have been blanked.

Truck goes through ice on Cedar Lake, two missing

5:10 PM

Two people are presumed dead after a pickup truck went through the ice on Cedar Lake.

Grand Rapids RCMP were called about the incident at about 1:20 a.m. Tuesday. 

The truck broke through the ice about 75 metres from shore, near the Manitoba Hydro boat launch, west of the Grand Rapids Generating Station.

Tracks were seen leading from the boat ramp onto the ice. The RCMP underwater recovery team was sent to the area Tuesday morning and found the truck Wednesday afternoon. The two occupants — the male driver and female passenger — were not inside, Manitoba RCMP said in a news release Wednesday. 

The search for the two victims continues.

Two men died after they fell through ice in Kinosao Sipi Cree Nation and Pimicikamak Cree Nation on the same weekend in late November.

Crews put out three fires, rescue fallen worker

4:13 PM

A house on Selkirk Avenue was destroyed in a fire that started late Wednesday morning.

Firefighters were sent to the 700 block shortly before noon and fought the intense blaze from outside, using an aerial ladder, among other tools. Crews, who also worked to protect a neighbouring building, declared the fire under control about two hours later.

Everyone inside the two-storey house got out before crews arrived.

While crews were battling that blaze, others were sent to a garage on the 600 block of Manitoba Avenue shortly before 1:30 p.m. and quickly extinguished a fire there.

Earlier, crews were sent to a bungalow on the first 100 block of Coralberry Avenue shortly before 7:25 a.m. They declared a fire there under control 35 minutes later. Everyone inside got out before crews arrived. One person was assessed by paramedics but was not taken to hospital.

The fires are under investigation.

Crews also rescued a worker who fell from the main floor of a construction site on Frontier Trail into the basement. The incident happened at about 10:20 a.m. The Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service used special equipment to remove the employee, who was taken to hospital in stable condition.

‘No threat’ to child in reported incident: police

2:38 PM

Police said Wednesday “there was no threat” to a child who reported being offered candy and a ride by two masked men Tuesday.

The Winnipeg Police Service previously said the student was walking to school on the 600 block of Beverley Street at about 1 p.m. when men wearing black clothing reportedly got out of what was described as a white van.

The child ran to the school and told a staff member, police said Tuesday.

Two sought in Selkirk robbery

2:15 PM

Police are searching for two males after a gunpoint robbery in Selkirk.

RCMP were sent to the Main Street business at 10 p.m. on Dec. 7. A male stole two cases of an alcoholic beverage while another held the door, pointing a gun at staff members inside.

The robbers ran away. Mounties asked anyone with information about the incident to call Selkirk RCMP at 204-482-3322 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS).

Man sentenced for smuggling weapons

2:01 PM

A Kelwood man was given a 20-month conditional sentence and a 10-year weapons ban Tuesday after previously pleading guilty to smuggling prohibited weapons into Canada.

Mark Sobry, 47, pleaded guilty in October to importing prohibited weapons under the  Criminal Code and smuggling prohibited weapons into Canada under the Customs Act.

Canada Border Services Agency officers at the Vancouver and Mississauga international mail centres found two separate shipments containing prohibited stun guns in the summer of 2024. The CBSA and the RCMP searched Sobry’s property that September and seized a stun gun, seven prohibited throwing stars, 10 rifles and ammunition.

Sobry was also ordered to provide a DNA sample when he was sentenced.

‘Antisemitic hate speech’ shouted at Hanukkah event

1:54 PM

A Hanukkah event at Health Sciences Centre was disrupted Monday by someone who yelled antisemitic hate speech, which was reported to Winnipeg police.

The incident happened during a menorah lighting ceremony.

“This behaviour was unacceptable and has no place in our facility and community,” HSC officials said in a news release. “We extend our sincerest apologies to everyone who was present and acknowledge the real pain, fear, and trauma that such hateful words can cause, particularly during what should have been a moment of peace, reflection, and celebration.”

Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara condemned the “hateful and antisemitic rhetoric” that was yelled at staff and patients.

“Please know this incident is being taken extremely seriously,” HSC officials said. “An investigation is active and the incident has been reported to Winnipeg Police Service.”

Veteran Tory MLA Schuler will not seek re-election

12:43 PM

Longtime Progressive Conservative MLA Ron Schuler announced Wednesday he will not seek re-election and will retire from politics when his seventh term ends.

Schuler, who represents Springfield-Ritchot, has been a member of Manitoba’s legislature for 27 years. He told the Free Press he will be 64 when the next election is scheduled to be held in October 2027.

“I think 64 is a great age to be stepping back and saying, ‘We need some renewal in the community’ — a new MLA, new energy, represents a new generation,” Schuler said. “I think that’s all really good.”

Schuler said he will stay on as Springfield-Ritchot’s MLA until the current term ends. He decided to announce his intentions now to give the party and potential candidates plenty of time to prepare for a nomination process.

Schuler is the third Tory MLA to recently announce he will not seek re-election, joining Kelvin Goertzen (Steinbach) and Doyle Piwniuk (Turtle Mountain).

Man charged in fatal Arlington Street shooting

12:24 PM

A man has been charged with second-degree murder after a victim was fatally shot at an Arlington Street home.

Police were sent to a reported “disturbance” on the 300 block shortly after 3 p.m. Friday and found the body of a man who had died from a gunshot wound. Investigators identified the man as Caleb Joshua Johnston, 37.

Police arrested 32-year-old Hugh Keith Switzer on Monday, the Winnipeg Police Service said in a news release Wednesday. Switzer, who is also charged with five firearms offences, was detained in custody.

Mayer poised to become permanent police board chairwoman

10:49 AM

Colleen Mayer looks set to become the next leader of the Winnipeg Police Board.

A city report notes Mayer, who is currently serving as the interim chairwoman of the board, will be appointed by Mayor Scott Gillingham to lead it, pending a final city council vote.

“Colleen Mayer has played a key role as vice-chair on the police board, helping hire the new chief and build a new strategic plan. I served alongside her, and I’m confident her experience and background in public administration will provide stable leadership as the board puts this plan into action,” Gillingham said in a written statement.

The board oversees the Winnipeg Police Service and guides its strategic plan.

Mayer previously served as vice-chairwoman of the board and is a former Progressive Conservative MLA for St. Vital. She is currently working as the chief administrative officer for the Rural Municipality of Armstrong.

Another motion recommends appointing Coun. Evan Duncan (Charleswood-Tuxedo-Westwood) as vice-chairman of the board. He is already a member.

The chairperson role was left vacant after Coun. Markus Chambers (St. Norbert-Seine River) resigned in October, citing unspecified “personal health” issues.

Two charged in March slaying on Pritchard Avenue 

10:41 AM

Three people have been arrested after a Mexican migrant was found slain in March.

Taylor Gilbert Linklater, 26, and Noreen Ceara Remona Thomas, 27, were arrested Monday in the killing of Diego Moscoza, 28. Both are charged with second-degree murder and were arrested in Headingley jails after police obtained warrants.

A third person, Devlin Langlois, 25, was arrested at a home on the 100 block of Powers Street on Wednesday and charged with accessory after the fact to murder. She was detained in custody.

Moscoza’s body was found outside on the 300 block of Pritchard Avenue on the morning of March 17. A Mexican citizen, he had been living in Manitoba for two years, the Winnipeg Police Service said in March.

A friend of the victim told the Free Press earlier this year that Moscoza “got involved with the wrong people” in Winnipeg. He was known to city police and had lived in the U.S. at some point, a WPS spokeswoman said in March.

Cadets save woman found without a pulse 

10:22 AM

A woman was rushed to hospital in critical condition after patrolling police cadets found her lying along a street unconscious and without a pulse.

The cadets found the woman, 70, in the area of Ellice Avenue and Sherbrook Street shortly before 9 p.m. Sunday. They gave her emergency medical care, including CPR, until an ambulance arrived, and she was later upgraded to stable condition.

The temperature was about -13 C at the time, or -19 with the wind chill, but it was much colder earlier that day.

“Citizens are encouraged to call 911 immediately if they see someone who needs help or is injured due to extreme weather,” the Winnipeg Police Service said in a news release Wednesday.

A police spokesman said he had no information about what happened to the woman before cadets found her.

Driver dies after crash east of Rennie

10:05 AM

A woman died after her vehicle went into a ditch in Whiteshell Provincial Park.

Whitemouth RCMP were sent to the crash site east of Rennie on Provincial Road 307, two kilometres north of the intersection with Highway 44, at 6:25 a.m. on Dec. 6.

They found the vehicle on its passenger side in the west ditch and the driver, a 27-year-old woman who lives in the park, lying outside the vehicle.

She was flown to hospital in a STARS Air Ambulance helicopter and later died, Manitoba RCMP said in a news release Wednesday.

The single-vehicle crash happened sometime between 3:15 a.m., when the woman was last seen, and 6:15 a.m., when she was found.