News briefs for Monday, May 13, 2024

Shots fired through door, women hurt

4:21 PM

Two women were injured after shots were fired through the door of a home in the William Whyte area Sunday.

Police were sent to the home on the 200 block of Powers Street at about 3 p.m.

One of the women was hit by a gunshot. Officers used a tourniquet and bandages on the 42-year-old victim. A 39-year-old woman was also injured in the incident. Both victims were transported to hospital and were in stable condition Monday afternoon.

Investigators determined the suspects had knocked on the door of the home, and the occupants greeted them. The occupants closed the door after a brief conversation, and multiple shots were fired through the door moments later, police said.

The Winnipeg Police Service’s major crimes unit is investigating. The WPS is asking anyone with additional information about the shooting to call 204-986-6219 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 204-786-8477 (TIPS).

Public meeting on new bus garage

2:58 PM

The City of Winnipeg will show off the draft design for its new north bus garage at a public event later this month.

Winnipeg Transit is in the “early stages” of designing the garage east of the intersection of Oak Point Highway and Selkirk Avenue, the city said in a news release Monday. City council voted in June to expropriate some of the land intended for the garage.

It will replace Transit’s oldest building, a smaller garage at 1520 Main St.

The new garage will house about 250 buses, allowing Transit to add 60-foot buses to its fleet.

The come-and-go information session, where residents can learn more about the garage, speak with the project team and see the draft design, will be held at the Tyndall Park Community Centre on May 27, from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

The project is receiving funding from all three levels of government. Construction is expected to start next year and finish in 2027.

Sunday slaying victim identified as Nunavut man

1:24 PM

Homicide detectives have identified the city’s latest slaying victim as a man from Nunavut.

Winnipeg Police Service officers were called to the area of Portage Avenue and Arlington Street about an injured man at about 2:20 a.m. Sunday, where they found the victim on the ground.

Police gave him chest compressions and applied a chest seal, but he was pronounced dead in hospital.

Police said Monday the victim was Jack Jacques Kabluitok, 46, of Rankin Inlet, Nunavut. He was staying in Winnipeg, police said. His killing marks the 14th homicide in Winnipeg this year, though police include the 2023 deaths of two infants in their internal statistics as arrests were made in 2024.

Late Sunday morning, police crime scene tape blocked the lane behind the north side of Portage Avenue, where blood spatter was marked with chalk on the lane.

Police have asked anyone with information on Kabluitok’s killing, including possible video, to call detectives at 204-986-6508 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 204-786-8477.

IIU investigating head injury

1:13 PM

The province’s police watchdog is investigating after an officer subdued an assault victim suffering from a head wound.

The Winnipeg Police Service told the Independent Investigation Unit of Manitoba that officers were sent to the 500 block of Main Street regarding a male who had been assaulted by a group of people at about 11:55 p.m. Saturday. They found a victim with a laceration on his head “sleeping” on the ground.

The WPS told the IIU the male tried to assault an officer while in hospital and a brief use-of-force encounter happened.

A diagnostic test showed the male had suffered a skull fracture.

The IIU is asking witnesses or anyone with video that might help investigators to call 1-844-667-6060.

Canoeist killed in suspected Whiteshell drowning

12:56 PM

A man was killed when his canoe capsized during high winds on Meditation Lake in Whiteshell Provincial Park on Sunday.

RCMP were sent to the lake, which is only accessible by a hike of more than one kilometre, at 7:55 p.m. after a passerby found an injured woman on the shore. The 58-year-old Winnipeg woman told the passerby her husband was missing.

Mounties said the woman was canoeing with the 61-year-old man when the vessel capsized. Both were wearing life-jackets.

The woman was able to swim to shore amid cooler temperatures on the lake. Officers found the man dead in the water.

“It appears he drowned. An autopsy will be conducted,” RCMP said in a news release Monday.

The woman remained in hospital Monday afternoon, Mounties said.