News briefs for Monday, January 5, 2026

Separate incidents being investigated as hate crime

2:31 PM

City police say they are investigating two recent incidents of vandalism at a hookah lounge and a synagogue as hate crimes.

The Winnipeg Police Service made the announcement at a news conference Monday.

Someone smashed the front windows at Habibiz Café, at 1373 Portage Ave., shortly before 5 a.m. Sunday and left a note saying,  “Leave our country terrorist. F— off.”

The owner, Ali Zeid, is of Palestinian heritage and has operated the café for five years, he told the Free Press Sunday.

At about 4:30 a.m. Friday, someone spray-painted graffiti two swastikas, the word “hate” and another word believed to be an acronym on the doors of Congregation Shaarey Zedek. Maintenance staff discovered the graffiti at the Wellington Crescent site later that morning.

“We are concerned that this type of attack, intimidation, displays of hate and antisemitism are becoming normalized in our Canadian way of life,” Gustavo Zentner, vice-president at CIJA, told the Free Press Sunday.

Inmate at women’s jail dies

2:07 PM

A 26-year-old inmate at the Women’s Correctional Centre has died.

Manitoba Justice said in a news release Monday that the woman died Saturday.

“For privacy reasons, the province will not provide additional information about the deceased person,” the release said.

The jail is in the Municipality of Headingley, west of Winnipeg. The death has been reported to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, as required by law.

Man charged in parking-lot incident

12:53 PM

A man has been charged after he allegedly threatened another driver after a collision in a parking lot, then assaulted a security guard and a police officer.

A 2013 Dodge Dart seen being driven erratically in the area of King Edward Street and Ness Avenue at about 4:45 p.m. Sunday was involved in the collision, on the 1400 block of Ellice Avenue, shortly after. Bystanders told police they saw the driver of the Dart threaten the 52-year-old man driving the other vehicle.

A 23-year-old security guard was assaulted after intervening in the altercation, and a police officer suffered minor injuries while arresting a man.

The 38-year-old man has been charged with several offences, including driving while impaired. He was also wanted on two warrants for failing to attend court and failing to comply with a release order, and was given Highway Traffic Act tickets for driving without a licence and driving an unregistered vehicle.

The man was detained in custody. He has no criminal convictions in Manitoba, a search of court records found.

Boy, 14, charged in attack on bus driver

12:32 PM

A boy has been arrested after a bus driver was shot in the hand with what is believed to be a pellet gun last fall.

The incident happened on Gateway Road near Springfield Road shortly after 2 p.m. on Oct. 27. Police arrested the boy, 14, at his East Kildonan home Sunday. He is facing charges of assault with a weapon, mischief under $5,000 and two counts of failing to comply with an undertaking. He was detained in custody.

The driver was taken to hospital in stable condition, police said in October.

Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1505 president Chris Scott previously said the driver was in his 40s and had been a transit operator for about 18 years. He said he was told the boy asked to be let off the bus and became angry when the driver tried to stop on the other side of the intersection.

Man arrested after ‘random’ downtown assault on woman

12:18 PM

An officer used a Taser on a man while arresting him for an unprovoked attack on a stranger downtown Sunday, police say.

Patrolling Winnipeg Police Service members were headed west on the 300 block of Portage Avenue near Donald Street at 1:30 p.m. when they saw a man assaulting a woman, knocking her to the ground.

The assault appeared “to be random,” the WPS said in a news release Monday.

The woman, in her 30s, suffered minor injuries and did not require medical attention.

A 30-year-old man has been charged with assault and was detained in police custody. The man is before the court, accused of violating his probation eight times since June and of a theft in September.

His record includes convictions for assault with a weapon, possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose, robbery, mischief to property, arson, theft and court-order breaches.

Truck driver struck, killed on Hwy. 75 

10:57 AM

A semi-truck driver was hit by another truck and killed after getting out of his vehicle on Highway 75 on Saturday.

Morris RCMP were sent to the collision site just south of St. Jean Baptiste, in the Rural Municipality of Montcalm, at about 1 p.m. Officers found two semi-trucks stopped in a southbound lane and a man, 57, dead in the median ditch.

The other driver, a 33-year-old man, was not hurt. Both men were from Winnipeg.

Police are investigating.

Manitoba Trucking Association executive director Aaron Dolyniuk offered condolences Monday to people affected by the incident.

“Our deepest sympathies go out to the families and loved ones impacted by this loss,” he said. “At this time, we will not speculate on the circumstances surrounding the collision. It is important that investigators have the time and space required to thoroughly determine the facts.”