WINNIPEG — Winnipeg police say three people have been arrested and charged after an attack of a man was live streamed on social media.
Officers said the assault happened April 1 after the man met a woman over a dating web site. The two made plans to meet up at a home in downtown Winnipeg.
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It was then police said the victim was forcibly confined, physically assaulted, stabbed multiple times and robbed of his wallet and car keys.
Police were notified by someone who was watching the attack online through social media.
“I don’t know why someone would want to record something like this. Why they would want to live stream something this violent in nature,” Cst. Tammy Skrabek of the Winnipeg Police Service said. “It is a very troubling incident.”
The man was taken to hospital in unstable condition but later upgraded to stable. Police said the victim is very lucky and had the person who saw the video not called for help, the situation may have ended very differently.
“We don’t know whether he would have gotten to a hospital, whether he would have gotten treatment or if things would have been more severe for him,” Cst. Skrabek said.
Officers said more resources may need to be shifted towards investigating these types of online crimes as live streaming video has become more popular.
“I think we are going to be seeing more of that in the future,” Cst. Skrabek said. “I think we will have to put different resources, different from our regular investigative techniques, into investigating these internet crimes.”
Two women, 44 and 17, along with an 18-year-old man were all arrested.
Police would not identify how the suspects know each other of if they are related. However, they said they would not be naming the 44-year-old in order to protect the identity of the accused youth.
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Each are facing multiple charges including aggravated assault, extortion, forcible confinement and conspiracy to commit and indictable offence.