WINNIPEG – Boxing Day shoppers at a Winnipeg mall got more than they bargained for when someone let loose pepper spray, sending three people to hospital.
As the fumes wafted through part of Polo Park shopping centre, dozens of shoppers experienced discomfort, including coughing and burning eyes.
“It was kind of scary because we didn’t know what it was,” said Madison Jane, who had arrived at the mall to shop at almost the same minute the attack occurred.
“All I knew was I couldn’t breathe very well.”
Jane joined dozens of others who fled outside, coughing, hands clutched to their mouths. Police arrived to secure the scene a few minutes later, though official word of what occurred went out on social media first.
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“It was really eerie,” Jane said. “We didn’t know if it was some sort of crazy gas. First thing I heard about (pepper spray) was on Twitter.”
There were no serious injuries reported. Three women agreed to be taken to hospital as a precaution.
Police and paramedics got the call about the pepper spray at around 2:30 PM. Mall management says one man approached another in the mall’s southwestern corner and unleashed a stream of pepper spray towards him.
Both men – who police believe knew each other – fled the mall immediately, but left a spate of mayhem in their wake.
Const. Jason Michalyshen said an unknown number of people were affected by the spray, which can cause a burning sensation in the eyes, coughing and trouble breathing.
Polo Park general manager Deborah Green praised the response of emergency staff and mall personnel, who followed procedures including shutting down the mall’s internal ventilation and opening external doors to help keep the spray from spreading.
“We got the call and went into full emergency mode,” Green said. “You can’t always prevent these things from happening, but you can be prepared… we are ready.”
No arrests have been made and police were still interviewing witnesses.
(Winnipeg Free Press, The Canadian Press)
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