A 26-year-old man was fatally shot by Winnipeg police during a domestic situation in which children were present Friday — the city’s first such shooting where evidence will include video from an officer’s body-worn camera.
The incident happened at about 1:30 a.m. when officers, including one wearing a camera for a pilot project that began nine days earlier, responded to a Manitoba Housing townhouse on Morrow Avenue, east of St. Anne’s Road in St. Vital.
“The details of this incident are a solemn reminder of the work our officers do in the split-second, life-and-death decisions they face to protect others and themselves,” police Chief Gene Bowers told reporters.
“My thoughts are with those who were inside the residence, especially the children. My heart goes out to you as well as the family and friends of the deceased, and the officers who were involved in this incident.”
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The scene of the shooting on Morrow Avenue.
In a news release, the Independent Investigation Unit of Manitoba said a woman called and told police her boyfriend was fighting with her, and four children were present in the home.
The woman, who was a “protected person in a court order” against the man, had a bruised face and requested an ambulance, the news release said.
She identified her boyfriend and told police he was armed with an “edged” weapon and had a history of violence that had been reported to police in the past, the IIU said.
The first officers, including one wearing a camera, arrived about four minutes after the initial call.
Within three minutes of arriving, the armed man confronted officers, the IIU said.
Police fatally shot him at the front entrance of the townhouse. Neither police nor the IIU provided more details about what occurred during the encounter.
Police spokesman Const. Stephen Spencer said officers provided emergency medical care, including chest seals, until paramedics arrived. The man, whose name was not released, died in hospital.
“Our officers do not come to work at the start of their day planning to take a life,” Bowers said. “It is the last thing they ever want to do, but sometimes it’s a sad reality of police work.”
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Farrell Mandamin, who was visiting the complex, estimated he heard six “quick” gunshots.
Farrell Mandamin, who was visiting the complex, estimated he heard six “quick” gunshots.
“We didn’t even think it was gunshots,” he said. “Right away, I looked outside. Cops were everywhere.”
Mandamin said he was shaken by the incident.
Police officers, including a forensic unit, left the townhouse at about 2 p.m. Friday. A woman, who entered the suite as police departed, declined to comment.
Because the incident involved Indigenous citizens, Bowers said he notified Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs Grand Chief Kyra Wilson and Garrison Settee, grand chief of Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak, which represents northern First Nations.
He said police want to ensure the woman and children receive any supports they require. The officers are off work while they get help from the police behavioural support unit, as per protocol.
“This is a tragic event for everybody involved,” Bowers said.
Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs Grand Chief Kyra Wilson issued a statement that said the facts must be established through the independent investigation and that accountability requires transparency and public confidence in the integrity of that investigation.
“For First Nations peoples, incidents involving police use of force must also be understood within the broader context of longstanding concerns regarding systemic discrimination, over-policing, and unequal outcomes within the justice system. Those realities underscore the importance of independent investigations that are rigorous, transparent, and capable of maintaining public confidence.”
Bowers said the body-worn camera video was seized by the WPS homicide unit as evidence to be provided to the IIU. Police would not say whether the officer wearing the camera had fired their gun.
“This is a tragic event for everybody involved.”
Bowers said footage can help to provide context and transparency, but it is just one piece of evidence the IIU will use to assess what happened.
“There will be an inquest. At that time, if that (video) is part of the evidence, that becomes public record. I would think at some point it potentially could become public,” he said.
Police launched a six-month pilot project, which provides 40 cameras to select front-line officers, on June 10. U.S.-based Axon Enterprise, better known for its Tasers, provided the cameras for free during the pilot.
Brandon University Prof. Christopher Schneider, who has studied law enforcement’s use of body cameras in North America, said video is typically not released to the public due to very strict privacy regulations in Canada.
“I think it’s huge in how the Winnipeg Police Service respond to this publicly because they’ve been saying up until this point that these cameras are about bringing transparency to the city and the service,” he said.
“Now we have a circumstance where, is it going to be released? Are people going to see it? Is it actually transparent?”
The evidence from police in other cities “points to no,” he said.
“The public, will they be able to see the video for themselves to confirm that a weapon was present?” Schneider said.
“When they’re not given access, this raises serious questions about these transparency claims that the Winnipeg Police Service is advancing.”
“The public, will they be able to see the video for themselves to confirm that a weapon was present?”
Manitoba had the second-highest rate of police-reported intimate partner violence among the provinces in 2024 (607 victims per 100,000 people), a recent Statistics Canada study found. Saskatchewan had the highest rate (714).
Domestic incidents were the second most common type of call received by the WPS in 2025, according to its annual report. The service received 17,891 calls, down slightly from 2024.
Bowers said Friday’s incident did not meet the criteria for Alternative Response to Citizens in Crisis. ARCC’s teams, made up of police and Crisis Response Centre staff, respond to non-criminal, low-risk well-being and mental health crisis calls.
It was the second fatal officer-involved shooting in Winnipeg this year. Police fatally shot a man during a hostage-taking at a home in the 400 block of King Edward Street in St. James on May 29.
Two police-involved shootings happened in 2025, resulting in one death, and six occurred in 2024, resulting in four deaths, according to a recent WPS use-of-force report.
chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca
Chris Kitching is a general assignment reporter at the Free Press. He began his newspaper career in 2001, with stops in Winnipeg, Toronto and London, England, along the way. After returning to Winnipeg, he joined the Free Press in 2021, and now covers a little bit of everything for the newspaper. Read more about Chris.
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