Winnipeg teen attacked with machete recovering after surgery: sister
A 15-year-old Winnipeg boy is doing well after undergoing surgery to repair injuries he sustained in an alleged beating and machete attack.
It happened in the 300 block of Selkirk Avenue Saturday night Winnipeg police said.
"In all honesty, this is one of the most serious attacks that we've investigated involving a machete," said Const. Dani McKinnon.
The boy's sister, who is not being identified to protect the victim's identity, told CTV News her brother was up and talking Wednesday.
“He’s in much better spirits than you'd expect,” she told CTV News. “He was cracking jokes with his brothers and just trying, trying to be as normal as he could be.”
- The information you need to know, sent directly to you: Download the CTV News App
- Sign up now for daily CTV News Winnipeg newsletters
She said he told her what happened that Saturday night when he woke up.
She said her brother and a group of friends approached a woman who appeared to be intoxicated and in need of help. She said a couple of people then chased after the group, and they all ran away. She explained they caught up with her brother first.
“He was attacked and robbed for his cellphone,” she said, “Brutally beaten and slashed with a machete.”
She told CTV News her brother’s skull was fractured, and he endured 20 hours of surgery to reattach nerves “almost everywhere in his body.”
“He's got over 20 staples in his back,” she said. “He's got stitches in his ears. They had to reattach fingers.”
She said his arms were slashed down to the bone.
“His arms are so bandaged up he can't use his hands,” she said, “He’s very, very lucky, very lucky to be alive.”
A 15-year-old boy has been charged with aggravated assault, robbery, and possession of a weapon. The charges have not been proven in court.
Legislation coming in fall: Wiebe
When asked about the restriction of machete sales in Manitoba, Justice Minister Matt Wiebe said new legislation is coming in the fall.
"We can restrict the availability of machetes in our community. So we're going to do that. We're going to make that step," he said.
Wiebe added the province will be working with retailers on how to implement restrictions at the point of sale.
"They don't want to see these weapons out in their communities either,” Wiebe said.
Last year the province laid down rules to limit the sale of bear spray. Wiebe said that has been successful.
'Inviting trouble'
Rick Shone, owner of Wilderness Supply on Isabel Street, told CTV News he doesn’t carry machetes anymore for several reasons, one being he doesn’t see the application for a big, sharp knife in downtown Winnipeg.
“We're not chopping down, like, bamboo shoots or chomping through rain forests. So we just, we don't carry them here,” he said.
Shone said he’s also stopped selling other items like knives and sunglasses over safety concerns.
“I hate to say, it's inviting trouble, but it kind of is,” he said, “And so for the moment, we haven't really come up with a good plan on how to do this safely for our customers and our staff, and that's the biggest concern for me.”
Shone said while licencing stores helped in the case of bear spray, he thinks it is going to be difficult to regulate the sale of machetes because you can easily buy one online.
“It's very hard to regulate unless you simply say let's just make it illegal,” he said, “I think it’s something that you could do, but you'd have to have national buy-in on that.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.7033216.1726021317!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpg)
Kamala Harris goes on offence against Donald Trump in combative debate
Democratic U.S. Vice-President Kamala Harris put Republican Donald Trump on the defensive at a combative U.S. presidential debate on Tuesday with a stream of attacks on abortion limits, his fitness for office and his myriad legal woes.
Key quotes from the Trump-Harris 2024 U.S. presidential debate
U.S. Vice-President Kamala Harris and former U.S. president Donald Trump took the stage on Tuesday night for their first and only scheduled presidential debate before the Nov. 5 election.
FACT CHECK: A look at the false and misleading claims made during the Trump-Harris debate
In their first and perhaps only debate, former U.S. president Donald Trump and U.S. Vice-President Kamala Harris described the state of the country in starkly different terms. As the two traded jabs, some old false and misleading claims emerged along with some new ones.
Trump campaign falsely accuses immigrants in Ohio of abducting and eating pets
Former U.S. president Donald Trump’s campaign and his allies are amplifying false rumours that Haitian immigrants in Ohio were abducting and eating pets, another instance of the inflammatory and anti-immigrant rhetoric Trump has promoted throughout his campaigns.
U.S. presidential historian predicts results of November elections. Here's who he says will win
An American presidential historian is predicting a Kamala Harris presidency as the outcome of the upcoming U.S. elections in November.
Taylor Swift endorses Kamala Harris for U.S. president after debate ends
Taylor Swift, one of the music industry's biggest stars, endorsed Kamala Harris for president shortly after the debate ended on Tuesday night.
Some restaurants have increased their default tip options. Canadians think you should give this much
Despite what the default options on the payment terminal might read, most Canadians still want to tip around 15 per cent, according to a new survey.
Dave Grohl says he fathered a child outside of his marriage
The Foo Fighters frontman announced that he recently became a father again, writing in a statement on his Instagram page on Tuesday that his new baby girl was born 'outside' of his marriage to his wife Jordyn Blum.
$2M home belonging to children's musician Raffi on the market
Canada’s children’s troubadour is selling his B.C. home, which is now up for grabs for $1,995,000.