Man stabbed on downtown street in latest random attack in city

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This article was published 09/09/2022 (741 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A 41-year-old man was stabbed and two other people were threatened in downtown Winnipeg Friday afternoon, the latest in a string of random attacks in the city.

Winnipeg police responded to Memorial Boulevard and St. Mary Avenue around 5 p.m. Friday after reports a man armed with a knife was threatening to stab people.

Shortly after, officers discovered a 41-year-old man at the intersection of Broadway and Balmoral Street who had been stabbed in the upper body. Officers provided emergency medical care to the victim using a chest seal. The victim was taken to hospital in unstable condition but he has since improved.

Police said the suspect had threatened and chased multiple people in the area and had thrown an unknown object at a Transit bus before stabbing the 41-year-old man.

The suspect fled before police arrived.

Police said the suspect then approached a 32-year-old woman in the 200 block of Young Street and threatened to stab her. The victim fled to her home as the suspect threatened to kill her family.

The suspect then attempted to attack a 54-year-old man at the intersection of Portage Avenue and Furby Street, but the victim escaped unharmed, police said.

At around 5:15 p.m., officers located the suspect at the intersection of Portage Avenue and Sherbrook Street. After a short pursuit, officers arrested the man.

Police said the suspect did not know the victims.

“The attacks are believed to be random and unprovoked,” police said in a news release Saturday.

A 24-year-old man is facing a variety of charges including three counts of assault. He remains in custody.

In a statement Saturday, organizers of the downtown ManyFest said: “The incident that happened outside the festival grounds is unfortunate. Security and Downtown Community Safety Partnership are onsite at ManyFest all weekend and the turnout so far has been higher than we anticipated.”

The downtown assaults are the latest in a string of random attacks in Winnipeg.

Two male teens were charged with randomly stabbing two pedestrians — including sending a 32-year-old man to hospital in critical condition — in North Kildonan Wednesday night.

Police said Friday the accused, who are 14 and 16, are back on the street after being released “on undertakings as mandated by the Criminal Code.” Both were charged with one count of assault causing bodily harm, one count of aggravated assault and two counts of robbery.

The 32-year-old man was robbed and stabbed in his upper body as he was walking on the 300 block of Springfield Road. He was rushed to hospital in critical condition. Officers went to the home of the other victim: a 43-year-old man who had been robbed of his headphones and stabbed in his upper body.

The violence “is as concerning to us as it is to the general public,” Winnipeg police spokesman Const. Claude Chancy said Friday.