Woman accused of stabbing boy may have tried to surrender

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This article was published 23/06/2021 (1281 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

THE Winnipeg Police Service has launched an internal review to determine whether a 19-year-old woman charged in connection with the stabbing death of a 12-year-old boy tried to surrender to police Sunday but was turned away, sources told the Free Press.

A loud and angry altercation involving two groups of people on Burrows Avenue near Main Street on Friday night turned violent, leaving a 12-year-old with a stab wound. An off-duty nurse helped treat the boy at the scene but he died in hospital later that night.

Witnesses told the Free Press the two groups were yelling at each other and then a woman could be seen carrying a knife with a long blade, yelling at someone to “get away from us.”

On Tuesday morning, Shania Pirrie was charged with manslaughter and released by a justice of the peace with the consent of a Crown attorney on the conditions she remain in the home of a Winnipeg family member, possess no weapons and have no contact with four named witnesses. Her next court date is Sept. 21.

However, police sources, who asked not to be named, said it appears Pirrie visited police headquarters on Graham Avenue on Sunday in what is believed to be an attempt to turn herself in. The sources said there is video that confirms her presence and a conversation with a duty service officer at main reception.

Pirrie talked with the duty officer for several minutes, until he walked away, the sources said. Before he could return, she turned and left.

The sources say the incident is being reviewed internally because Pirrie was in contact with a duty officer at police headquarters, and the homicide unit was actively searching for her and was engaged in surveillance at her home.

On Saturday, before Pirrie was charged, police said the confrontation was not gang-related and that the two groups involved in the incident “may not have known each other” before the attack.

fpcity@freepress.mb.ca