North Point Douglas weapons incident ongoing: officials
Access for vehicles, boats, and pedestrians on the Disraeli Bridge and east and west ramps at Sutherland Avenue continues to be closed off Saturday as police respond to a weapons incident.
Winnipeg police Const. Dani McKinnon said the area has been closed 'out of an abundance of caution.'
McKinnon said the incident began when police received a report of shots fired on the 100 block of Grove Street at 5:30 a.m.
KEVIN ROLLASON / FREE PRESS
Winnipeg police have a heavy presence around the Disraeli Bridge Saturday as they respond to a weapons incident.
'Nobody was injured,' she said during a 1:30 p.m. news conference near the incident site.
'An individual armed with a firearm — an adult male — was involved and he transitioned from there to the Sutherland and Disraeli Bridge area. Police have cordoned it off and the area should be avoided for public safety.'
She said the river is closed to boat traffic for about two kilometres on either side of the Disraeli Bridge.
McKinnon said the individual is barricaded outside in an area under the bridge. Police negotiators have been talking to the man — who is known to police — for hours.
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'We have the river, the bridge and there are footpaths,' she said.
'Lots of people are on the river. This has stymied all that and we understand it … we have the appropriate resources here ready to respond to keep the community, the individual, and the police as safe as possible.'
McKinnon said the incident is in an area where no nearby residents had to be evacuated.
'We want this to end peacefully and be resolved in a timely manner.'
kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca
Kevin RollasonReporter
Kevin Rollason is a general assignment reporter at the Free Press. He graduated from Western University with a Masters of Journalism in 1985 and worked at the Winnipeg Sun until 1988, when he joined the Free Press. He has served as the Free Press's city hall and law courts reporter and has won several awards, including a National Newspaper Award. Read more about Kevin.
Every piece of reporting Kevin produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.
Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber.
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