A 34-year-old Winnipeg man on drugs taped weapons to his hands in a bid to be shot, Winnipeg police say.
Just after 7 a.m. Friday, police got a call saying there was a distressed man with a machete outside a home in the Robertson neighbourhood near McPhillips Street. They later found out the call had come from the man himself.
When officers arrived, they found the man with two machetes — one taped to each hand. He also had a makeshift shield to prevent any use of tasers from being effective.
“That’s something we haven’t really seen before, and that might change the way we think about things,” Const. Jay Murray said. “The taser is a very effective weapon — one we’ve had for a while now — and I know it’s helped us in a lot of situations, but unfortunately when individuals plan for that, we have to resort to other techniques.”
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The man charged at the first officers who arrived on scene, yelling for them to shoot him, but they were able to keep their distance while waiting for backup, said Murray.
Some neighbours watched as the incident unfolded outside their homes, and Murray said the Tactical Support Team was grateful residents stayed inside during the tense situation.
“We had indications that this individual wanted to attack any bystander that came around,” Murray said.
“There certainly was a threat to public safety so you can only imagine what would have happened if somebody had walked by or tried to get a little close.”
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Police were eventually able to get the man subdued and place him in custody using a “less lethal weapon.”
“We’re not going to say what it was in this case. You can see that this individual had known a taser was likely coming his way and had prepared for it,” Murray said.
“We don’t always like to talk about the tools and techniques we have — it’s very evident in this release why — so this is something we’re not going to disclose at this time.”
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The suspect is believed to have taken methamphetamine before the incident, and was known to police.
“Methamphetamine has changed policing. The way that we interact with individuals who are high on methamphetamine, we often find ourselves being involved in these use of force encounters,” Murray said.
“There’s tremendous difficulties involved with communicating with somebody who’s high on methamphetamine.”
The suspect faces charges for possessing a weapon and failing to comply with a probation order.