
Two shot outside city hotel where evacuees are staying
Officers were sent to the 1800 block of Ellice Avenue, where two people were found with gunshot wounds, at 2:42 p.m.
Police gave the males, ages 18 and 16, first aid before they were taken to hospital in unstable condition.
MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS
The Airport Motor Inn on Ellice Avenue.
One remained in unstable condition Wednesday afternoon and was awaiting surgery, while the other has been upgraded to stable. The injuries are not considered life threatening.
The shooting occurred near the Airport Motor Inn, the Free Press has confirmed.
Winnipeg Police Service spokesperson Cst. Stephen Spencer said the incident happened outside and on hotel property.
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He confirmed there are evacuees staying at the hotel but wouldn't say if the shooting victims were evacuees.
Spencer said there are additional police units patrolling areas around evacuation centres and hotels where evacuees are staying.
'I know that there has been investigations specifically around the areas where evacuees are being housed because of reports of drug dealers targeting evacuees,' he said Wednesday.
Last week, police charged two men who allegedly sold cocaine outside hotels where wildfire evacuees are staying, highlighting concerns that displaced Manitobans could be exploited or targeted.
Police asked anyone who witnessed the shooting or has related video to call the major crimes unit at 204-986-6219 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 204-786-8477 (TIPS).

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Winnipeg Free Press
5 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
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'Violence is often accompanied by gendered slurs, sexualized behaviours, and derogatory put-downs,' the Running on Fumes report states. Ninety per cent of female respondents in the 2022-23 survey experienced violence versus 72 per cent of male participants. On average, women experienced twice as many incidents as men. The Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario has been a key partner in the Violence and Harassment Against Educators Project. The federation, which represents 83,000 teachers and EAs, has been lobbying the Ontario government and school boards to ramp up compliance with health and safety legislation and improve reporting on violence in K-12 classrooms. Lillian Klausen, president of the Manitoba Teachers' Society, said her 16,600 members share the same concerns as their Canadian counterparts. MTS did not have any data to release on the subject, but Klausen said it has created an internal committee to address workers' physical and psychological health in response to recent anecdotes about violence. There have been multiple high-profile incidents in Manitoba in recent months. Winnipeg's Sturgeon Heights Collegiate initiated a lockdown in May when a teenage boy attacked a school employee and vandalized the campus. Last month, a 16-year-old student showed up at Neelin High School in Brandon with a sword to carry out a plot to target people of colour and immigrants. The academic year that just ended was Braaksma's last with the Brandon School Division. She is moving to Saskatchewan, saying her now-former employer's handling of the January incident was a motivating factor. Braaksma said her professional judgment and training was called into question and there was no opportunity to debrief with the student or the family. Notably, she had nonviolent crisis intervention training. What made matters worse is that she never heard from anyone on the superintendent's team to acknowledge the incident, she said. No one was available at the division to answer questions this week due to 'summer schedules and limited availability,' said communications co-ordinator Terri Curtis. Julie Braaksma, will soon be completing her PhD thesis examining student on staff violence in Manitoba schools. (Cheryl Hnatiuk / Free Press) Braaksma said her experience and early PhD findings suggest student-on-school-staff violence often goes underreported and does not lead to even a brief leave of absence. She carried out her shift as usual after the altercation in January and only sought medical attention following several days of worsening pain in her chest. This spring, as part of her online PhD program at Adler University, she surveyed nearly 200 local teachers on workplace violence and harassment and its toll on their physical and mental health. She is in the process of analyzing that data. 'I'm not here to lay blame,' Braaksma said. 'I'm here to say, 'It's happening. We have a problem. Let's fix it.'' — with files by Katie May Maggie MacintoshEducation reporter Maggie Macintosh reports on education for the Free Press. Originally from Hamilton, Ont., she first reported for the Free Press in 2017. Read more about Maggie. Funding for the Free Press education reporter comes from the Government of Canada through the Local Journalism Initiative. Every piece of reporting Maggie 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. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.


Winnipeg Free Press
a day ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Persistent theft of copper wire demands crackdown on scrap metal dealers: Tory
There are calls for a clampdown on scrap metal dealers who buy stolen copper wire, which puts thieves at risk of being electrocuted at Manitoba Hydro facilities and results in 'wire fires' that release toxic material. Recent reports of copper wire fires and theft indicate someone is still buying the ill-gotten metal, said former Brandon police chief Wayne Balcaen, who is the MLA for Brandon West and the Tory justice critic. MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS FILES Brandon West MLA and the Tory justice critic, Wayne Balcaen: 'Somebody's trying to use it as a source of income.' MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS FILES Brandon West MLA and the Tory justice critic, Wayne Balcaen: 'Somebody's trying to use it as a source of income.' 'Somebody's trying to use it as a source of income,' he said Thursday. 'What needs to happen is checking on the scrap metal dealers and determining if, in fact, they are following the act,' he said. The Scrap Metal Act, enacted in 2022, successfully stopped runaway thefts of automobile catalytic converters. The number of thefts dropped to just a dozen in 2024, from 1,801 in 2022. The law prohibits a person from selling a catalytic converter or such things as metallic wire that has had insulation or casing removed from it, unless they can provide proof of ownership to the dealer at the time of the transaction. It requires a scrap metal dealer to obtain proof of identification from the seller and retain records about the transaction, limit cash purchases of scrap metal and provide regular reports to law enforcement agencies. The Winnipeg Police Service said Thursday it is 'aware of various reports of copper wire theft and they are being investigated.' 'What needs to happen is checking on the scrap metal dealers and determining if, in fact, they are following the act.'–Wayne Balcaen It did not make anyone available for an interview, or respond to questions about whether or not the police service has sufficient resources to enforce the Scrap Metal Act. Manitoba Justice did not immediately respond Thursday when asked whether the issue is on its radar. Manitoba Hydro said the theft of copper equipment from its facilities is a 'serious and ongoing problem' and 'very dangerous.' 'In most cases, thieves attempt to remove copper wire that's connected to equipment or stations,' Hydro spokesman Peter Chura said. Christopher Katsarov / THE CANADIAN PRESS There are calls for a clampdown on scrap metal dealers who buy stolen copper wire, which puts thieves at risk of being electrocuted and results in 'wire fires' that release toxic material. Christopher Katsarov / THE CANADIAN PRESS There are calls for a clampdown on scrap metal dealers who buy stolen copper wire, which puts thieves at risk of being electrocuted and results in 'wire fires' that release toxic material. 'This is very dangerous, as thieves could be exposed to high-voltage electricity and seriously injured or killed.' Innocent bystanders and hydro workers are also put at risk, Chura said. 'Removing copper grounding wires can create hazards for our employees and the public around the damaged equipment.' The business representative for the hydro electrical workers' union said their members wear protective equipment and know how to handle live wires, but people who break into hydro facilities often don't. 'In the past, they've found people in our stations that are dead because they climbed on top of a transformer and tried to steal the copper while it's energized,' said Troy Craig with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 2034. 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A man who lives near an urban encampment said he's complained to the city about the illegal burns but hadn't seen any enforcement of the city bylaw that prohibits burning such material. Howard Warren also questioned who is buying the copper from the wire fires when the Scrap Metal Act prohibits it. It's not just copper from melted wires and Manitoba Hydro grounding cables that are targets for thieves. Spooled copper is also sought after. Early Monday, Winnipeg police responded to a burglar alarm at a Manitoba Hydro facility on Henlow Bay and arrested a man who was in the process of collecting spooled copper wire. In a recent, similar incident in Lac du Bonnet, the target was also a spool of copper wire, said Chura. Weekday Mornings A quick glance at the news for the upcoming day. In the attempted theft in south Winnipeg Monday, the 42-year-old suspect was found hiding between a fenced compound and an adjacent building, a police news release said. Chura said hydro security staff monitoring surveillance video provided real-time updates to help police locate the suspect, who police said had a knife and identification belonging to another person. He was wanted on outstanding warrants for failing to attend court and breaching release conditions. He was remanded in custody. Chura said there has been a reduction in the number of copper wire thefts: from 117 in 2018, to 44 in 2024 and 26 so far in 2025. He credited the Crown corporation's increased video surveillance and security patrols. Carol SandersLegislature reporter Carol Sanders is a reporter at the Free Press legislature bureau. The former general assignment reporter and copy editor joined the paper in 1997. Read more about Carol. Every piece of reporting Carol 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. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.


CBC
2 days ago
- CBC
Teens shot in Winnipeg's St. James area, near hotels housing wildfire evacuees
Winnipeg police are investigating after two teens, age 16 and 18, were shot and injured in the city's St. James area on Tuesday. Officers were seen investigating outside the Airport Motor Inn, one of a number of hotels in the area that are housing people displaced by wildfires in northern Manitoba.