An investigation into a string of assaults in Osborne Village and downtown Winnipeg earlier this week has led police to arrest and charge a man.
All the assaults occurred on the morning of Feb. 7, when seven people – six women and one man – were injured. Six of the assaults happened within the span of half an hour. All of the victims suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
Police described the assaults as random.
The assaults began at 7:30 a.m. in the area of River Avenue and Osborne Street, when a woman was attacked and suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
Five minutes later, a man was assaulted at the same location.
A third victim, a woman, suffered serious injuries when she was assaulted at 7:45 a.m. near Broadway and Edmonton Avenue.
Another woman was assaulted five minutes later at Hargrave Street and St. Mary Avenue, and another woman was seriously injured in an assault near St. Mary Avenue and Garry Street five minutes after that.
At 8 a.m., a woman was assaulted in the 300 block of York Avenue.
The final assault happened at 10:30 a.m., when a suspect assaulted a woman near Main Street and Pioneer Avenue.
READ MORE: Suspect linked to string of assaults in Osborne, downtown areas
Police arrested Michael Ryan Fitzsimmons and charged him with six counts of assault causing bodily harm, assault with a weapon, mischief under $5,000, and 24 counts of failing to comply with a probation order.
Winnipeg police thanked their partners in the downtown area and members of the public for their help with the investigation.
