A 44-year-old man is dead following an officer-involved shooting late Sunday night on Highway 59 just north of Highway 44.
Winnipeg police said the incident has been referred to the Independent Investigation Unit of Manitoba and won’t be commenting any further.
Two black police SUVs and three Winnipeg Police Service cruisers surrounded an unmarked, white van in the northbound curb lane of the road Monday morning.
A CTV camera got a close-up photograph of what appeared to be handgun lying on the road near the driver’s side door of the van. It was surrounded by yellow evidence markers.
There also appeared to be a bullet hole in the driver’s side windshield.
Anetta Fatla lives on the west side of Highway 59 near the scene of the shooting.
She was watching television with her family and friend, Marta Janusz, Sunday night when everyone inside the home heard sirens just before 11 p.m.
“Sirens are normal here because it’s a highway here so we didn’t even notice that, but then we heard like a few times, shots,” said Janusz. “Then, we started panicking. Especially the kids.”
Janusz said she heard four gunshots one after the other.
When she looked out the window, Janusz said she saw between 15 and 18 police cars on the highway.
“The children were shaking and we thought maybe someone will come over and say something what’s going on, but nobody (did) so…we were getting up and checking if everything is okay, if the police were gone or not,” said Janusz.
Investigators were still on scene earlier Monday afternoon.
The Independent Investigation Unit of Manitoba has now taken over the case.
