WINNIPEG — The Independent Investigation Unit of Manitoba (IIU) is investigating after a woman was killed in a two-vehicle crash after police said they tried to initiate a traffic stop on one of the vehicles.
The crash happened near the intersection of Boyd Avenue and Sinclair Street.
During a media briefing at 7 p.m., Winnipeg police Const. Rob Carver said officers in the area noticed a suspicious vehicle with five occupants and “decided there was reason to initiate a traffic stop.”
According to police, once the officer’s overhead lights were turned on, the vehicle began to flee.
“The vehicle immediately fled and collided with the half-ton,” Carver said.
Police said a woman who was one of the five occupants in the first vehicle died. They said the driver of the truck and the other four occupants of the other vehicle are in stable condition.
“It doesn’t appear at this point that we did anything other than activate our overhead lights,” Carver said. “We can’t control what people do when we have reason to interact with somebody.”
“While it is a pursuit by technical definition, we did not actually, apparently, pursue the vehicle in terms of accelerating or moving after it,” he added.