Winnipeg transit supervisor attacked with makeshift flamethrower, suspect arrested

A Winnipeg Police Service badge in September 2024. (Joanne Roberts, CityNews)

By Jessica Barile

Posted November 23, 2024 11:48 am.

A 23-year-old man was arrested after allegedly attacking a Winnipeg transit supervisor with a makeshift flamethrower on Saturday.

Police say the incident occurred around 7:50 a.m. at the Fort/Graham intersection, when the supervisor boarded a bus to wake a man who had been sleeping on the vehicle for several hours.

According to police, when the supervisor asked the man to exit, he did so but then created a torch using a can of hairspray and a lighter. The suspect aimed the weapon at the supervisor, who was able to push the man to the ground and disarm him before police arrived on the scene.

Officers arrested suspect Andrew Lawton Horzempa of Winnipeg, Horzempa has been charged with assault with a weapon and remains in custody.

The supervisor was not injured in the incident.

The investigation is ongoing.

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