An officer-involved shooting in Niverville Wednesday morning led to a large police presence in the community south of Winnipeg.
RCMP say one man is dead and three people are in custody, including another man who left the scene in a stolen vehicle that was arrested hours later in Saskatchewan.
According to Winnipeg police, the incident began with a call they received around 12:40 a.m. about a stolen vehicle, with potentially armed occupants, that was headed to the city from a rural municipality to the southwest.
The truck was spotted about 10 minutes later near Ness Avenue and Linwood Street in Winnipeg, and the police Air1 helicopter began tracking it.
Police said Air1 followed the vehicle for about an hour, ending at a parking lot in Otterburne, Man., where the stolen vehicle rammed a police cruiser, causing officers to fire their weapons.
The helicopter followed the fleeing truck to a parking lot on Drovers Run in Niverville, where, police say, the driver got out, entered another vehicle, and drove off. A passenger tried to run from the scene, but was arrested on-site by RCMP.
Officers found a man with a gunshot wound inside the abandoned truck, and despite efforts to provide emergency treatment, he died at the scene.
The Independent Investigation Unit (IIU) of Manitoba has taken over the investigation into the shooting, with assistance from the RCMP.
RCMP in Saskatchewan provided a description of the suspect they say fled the Niverville area and, Wednesday afternoon, confirmed the suspect had been apprehended.
David Burling, 29, was believed to be in the Esterhazy, Sask., area in a vehicle with Manitoba plates — about an hour and a half drive northwest of Virden, Man.
Police in Esterhazy had told residents to lock their doors and not to approach strangers.
RCMP officials confirm Burling and a woman were arrested during a traffic stop near Springside, SK. at around 1:30 p.m. According to Mounties, Burling and the woman were travelling in a silver vehicle, not the 2016 Subaru CrossTrek police were initially looking for. RCMP have not confirmed if the woman who was arrested in Saskatchewan had been at the shooting scene.
Winnipeg police were unable to provide or confirm any details about a suspect, saying the case is currently under RCMP jurisdiction.
A man who says he’s lived in community for 25 years told 680 CJOB it’s surprising to see incidents like this taking place in a once-quiet town.
“I just find it amazing that Niverville, as big as it’s getting, can go through things like this,” Robert Davey said.
“It seems like week after week and month after month, something is happening… things happen even in small towns, you know?”