Nine policemen on leave

A 16-year-old man is in police custody after an armed confrontation that lasted several hours on Wednesday with the police. Several shots were fired at officers inside a house on Bannerman Avenue, near Salter Street.

At a news conference Thursday, Winnipeg Police Department Chief Danny Smyth said a suspect allegedly used a rifle and only one police officer responded to the incident. incident.

Smyth said the boy had been arrested without any injuries, but had been hospitalized as a precaution because of the possible effects of the gas injected into the house to force him out.

"Several shots were fired at our officers and in the immediate vicinity," Smyth said.

"If there was not the tactical deployment of the armored vehicle and some of the tactics deployed, I do not think it would have had a good result." Fortunately, it was a good result, nobody can not be physically injured. "

He added that the arrival of the police armored intervention vehicle provided shelter for police officers who were "in vulnerable positions" when the suspect began shooting at the police.

A photo of a police car riddled with bullets was shown at the press conference and Smyth said that other cars in the vicinity had also been shot by the suspect.

Smyth said the incident had affected residents of the area and the police who had responded to the call.

"Nobody goes to work in the morning, no one goes to school in the morning, no one expects to be shot by an active shooter.It is scary and traumatic for all the people who participate, even for our members, the cops will not experience such an event in their career. "

He added that about 100 officers were involved in resolving the stalemate and that nine officers were on administrative leave to recover from the event and would be badessed by the WPS psychologist before they returned to work. .

"About 50 officers involved in this event were interviewed and supported by our Behavioral Health Unit," Smyth said.

"Events like this put tremendous pressure on our front-line officers, and in the past few weeks alone, officers have witnessed a number of incidents and indulged in armed and barricaded individuals, often under the influence of drugs like methamphetamine. "

According to Smyth, this was the third situation, armed and barricaded in the last six days, an "unprecedented" figure for WPS over such a short period. Another incident occurred Wednesday morning when a business located in the 500 block of the Young Street neighborhood was robbed and the workers taken hostage. On November 2, there was a 12-hour break in the 100 block of Chudley Street after a woman was hit in the face by a door in a block of 400 block building. Flora Avenue.

On October 25, an armed confrontation took place at the Bottle Stop store in Plaza Drive, Fort Garry.

Smyth said that gun violence and illicit drugs are known to be present in all confrontations.

He added that investigators were still working on Bannerman's stage on Thursday night and that they would "restore this neighborhood to normal" as soon as possible.

Several criminal charges should be announced.

The teenager suspect is also the person who fired at a residence in Block 300 on Aikins Street, near Mountain Avenue, around 6 am Wednesday.

"The K9 actually found its way to Bannerman block 300. Around 18:40, units were sent to Bannerman where an investigation was opened," Smyth said, adding that five people had been arrested and later released. .

The general patrol and cadets had established a perimeter around the Bannerman Block 300 home when, shortly before 1:00 pm, "a man appeared at the Bannerman Residence" and began firing at officers from different areas of the house. .

Smyth said that details of how the person had crossed the perimeter and entered the house were part of the investigation.

Const. Tammy Skrabek said there was a shootout in the area of ​​Bannerman Avenue and Salter Street the night before Wednesday's clash.

A 23-year-old man was walking around the area when he had an argument with an unidentified man and a woman.

As the victim moved away, he was shot in the upper body and the two suspects fled.

Police and emergency services found him around 6:20 pm. and he was taken to hospital in critical condition.

Although the Tuesday night shootout and Wednesday's clash took place in the same area, Skrabek said the link between the two incidents was unclear.

[email protected]