Man fatally shot by officers during hostage situation: Winnipeg police

Winnipeg police say officers fatally shot an armed man who was allegedly holding four people hostage in an apartment building on Furby Street Thursday.

Police say the four hostages – three adults and a child – were all physically unharmed.

Manitoba’s police watchdog, the Independent Investigation Unit, has been notified and is investigating.

WPS investigators believe the suspect, a 52-year-old man who was known to police, was a person of interest in the homicide of a long-distance truck driver from B.C. at the same address.

Winnipeg police were called to 25 Furby Street in West Broadway around 1:45 p.m. for the report of a woman being held hostage by a man in the apartment block.

Police allege the man was armed with an “edged weapon” and barricaded himself in a suite with the 19-year-old woman. There were three other people inside the suite: a 33-year-old woman, a 23-year-old man and a three-year-old girl. Police have not shared their identities.

Police say around 2:18 p.m., the 33-year-old and the child were either released or managed to escape into the hallway. Less than 10 minutes later, police say the 23-year-old escaped via the balcony.

“Negotiators continued their efforts to engage with the male hostage taker for the release of the original female that the call came in on,” Winnipeg police Chief Danny Smyth said at a press conference Friday.

“As the afternoon progressed, there were elevated concerns that the safety of the hostage elevated concerns about the safety of the hostage and that was based on some of the actions of the male hostage taker under the direction of the incident commander.”

Winnipeg police say a “rescue plan” was implemented around 5:10 p.m. to rescue the 19-year-old woman.

“The tactical support team entered the suite,” Smyth said. “The female hostage was secured and safely taken into care. The male hostage taker was shot by police during the rescue and he died at the scene.”

Police say the suspect had “an extensive criminal record for violence and weapons offences.” They say he was on several weapons prohibitions at the time of the event.

They believe the man was at the building often enough — though didn’t know if he lived there — that it was “quite possible” he knew people who lived there.

“I’m led to believe that the hostage taker was familiar with with residents in the building, but I don’t know the specific relationship,” said Smyth.

Homicide of B.C. trucker

Police say the unnamed, deceased suspect in the hostage situation was a person of interest in connection with the death of 34-year-old Farah Mohamud, a long-distance trucker from Delta, B.C.

WPS received a missing person report regarding Mohamud on Dec. 23. Three days later, his abandoned truck was found in West Broadway.

Mohamud was then found dead at the same apartment building on Furby Street where the homicide situation took place. The homicide unit is investigating.

“So right now we’re in the midst of coordinating overlapping investigations,” Smyth said.

“We don’t know the exact relationship there. But I don’t think it’s a coincidence.”