Winnipeg police are investigating a bizarre and disturbing incident at a St. Vital mall.

Const. Jason Michalyshen said the incident happened Feb. 19 at 1:50 p.m. A small group of teenage girls were shopping inside St. Vital Centre when they noticed a man they didn’t know following them.

Police said the man continued to follow them so closely that the girls entered a store in the hopes he’d leave them alone, and just outside a store in the mall, the man appeared to have sprayed an unknown substance on one of the girls’ clothes.

"My daughter just happened to reach up to scratch her back, and she felt something cold and wet and when she pulled her hand away it was covered in a sticky white substance," said the victim's mother.

"There's information to support that it may be a bodily fluid," said Const. Michalyshen. “To call this anything less than disturbing, it’s fair to say.”

Officers said the suspect remained in the mall for a short period of time before leaving.

Police were contacted, and a report was made.

In this case, police said the girls did the right things, changing directions and trying to get away from the man. But that doesn't make what happened any easier for the victim's mom.

"It's a rite of passage, to be able to go shopping at the mall with your friends. And you don't assume these sorts of things are going to happen. And so when I heard about it, I was just sick to my stomach."

Michalyshen said the substance could be a bodily substance, and it is being DNA tested to confirm. Police are also in the process of obtaining security footage and taking statements from the victims.

Investigators are now searching for a white man between 40 and 50 years old, between five foot seven inches to five foot eight inches (172 centimetres) tall with a heavy build, and a wrinkled, weathered looking face. He was wearing a flat-style blue felt hat with a small brim and a blue plaid jacket.

Anyone with information is asked to call 204-986-6245 or Crime Stoppers at 204-786-8477.

Police say they are aware of other incidents similar to this at another location, but at this point, they're not linking them together.