Manitoba community left shaken following two-day manhunt for high-risk suspect
Following a manhunt that spanned two days, Manitoba RCMP arrested a suspect deemed a high risk to the general public.
Mounties issued an emergency alert to the public around 7:00 PM Wednesday, warning of 38-year-old Wesley Manfred Wadien – a man the alert said was considered armed and dangerous. The alert urged people in Selkirk, Winnipeg and the Interlake to use caution.
Wadien was arrested later Wednesday evening without injury or incident in a rural area in the RM of Rockwood.
RCMP previously said Wadien was wanted for uttering threats and pointing a firearm, along with multiple other arrest warrants.
None of the charges have been proven in court.
Linda Tyerman lives in Balmoral, not far from where the Wadien was taken into custody. She said it was scary knowing the suspect was on the loose.
“We locked our doors stayed inside, talked to my daughters made sure they were all secure,” said Tyerman.
Ron Pozernick had just come in from walking his dog when he saw the alert.
"It had a lot of people nervous last night, including me,” said Pozernick.
The search ended southwest of the Town of Balmoral, where RCMP took the suspect into custody safely.
Just prior to the capture, Lois Howard said she noticed an unknown man on her property.
“(I) went outside and asked him what he was doing in my yard," said Howard.
At that point, RCMP cruiser cars flooded her driveway.
“They came out of their cars, I could see rifles – he took off,” she said.
Howard said officers told her to hunker down in her house and that’s when reality hit.
"I walked in the living room and the alert was on TV and it was like, oh my goodness,” said Howard.
Mounties said the suspect was wanted for pointing a shotgun and uttering threats over the noon hour Tuesday in Selkirk.
Pozernick would like to know why the alert wasn’t sent until late Wednesday.
Over the course of the manhunt, a few schools were put in hold and secure protocols and police say the suspect evaded capture on two occasions.
According to court records the suspect has a lengthy criminal record with convictions for weapons offences, break and enter, uttering threats, several court breaches, and assaulting a peace officer.
RCMP said measures to warn the public were based on a risk assessment as the investigation unfolded.
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