12-year-old girl finds shotgun during Lake Winnipeg beach clean-up: RCMP

Police in Manitoba say a family cleaning garbage off the shores of Lake Winnipeg in Gimli Saturday afternoon found a sawed-off shotgun.

Gimli RCMP say the family’s 12-year-old girl spotted the weapon around 12:30 p.m. on the beach near North Lake Street and Vaughan Avenue.

The family was doing a beach clean-up near their cottage.

Police were called and officers seized the firearm.

“The firearm was rusted shut so it had to be disassembled at the detachment, where officers were able to determine it was not loaded,” Gimli RCMP said in a news release.

Mounties are investigating where the weapon came from, and if it is connected to criminal activity.

Gimli is about 90 kilometres north of Winnipeg.