Officials say police saved lives in Winnipeg over the weekend

Winnipeg police are investigating four stabbing incidents over the weekend. Despite four violent incidents in two days, officials say it was the medical intervention of the police that stopped the further rise in the number of murders in the city.

“They are stepping up to provide this life-saving medical care – no question,” said Jason Michalischen, Winnipeg Police Public Information Office.

There have been 13 homicides in Winnipeg so far in 2024, and police on Monday detailed four incidents where officers could have saved lives and prevented that number from rising.

The first incident occurred Saturday afternoon when officers were called to a stabbing in the area of ​​Carleton Street and Cumberland Avenue, with officers pressuring the victim for what they called an unprovoked attack.

In the second, just after midnight Sunday, when a man was stabbed outside the Smittys in the 1000 block of St. James Street, a verbal dispute escalated into a fight and officers applied a tourniquet to the man, who suffered serious lower-body injuries. .

“I can say with certainty that if this tourniquet hadn't been used, we wouldn't be talking about an aggravated assault stabbing, which could have been a homicide.”

Then at 1:45 a.m. in the 300 block of Maryland Street, officers conducted a chest search on a man in his 50s.

Five minutes later, police were called to Anderson Avenue and Salter Street, where a 20-year-old man had been stabbed, and officers also used a chest seal in that incident.

All incidents are under investigation. Mihalyshen says the details in Monday's release are just a “snippet” of the day-to-day work officers do, and he says such scenarios are likely to continue as the summer season warms and bustles.

“There is no dispute, things are busy. With more people enjoying the warm weather, there are more people out and about in our community and more opportunities for people willing or looking to engage in criminal activity.”