Two men are in custody after allegedly terrorizing the residents of a rooming house in the 200 block of Austin Street Tuesday night.
Police said two armed suspects went from suite to suite in the building, forcing all occupants into a confined area and holding them at gunpoint for six hours.
The victims were assaulted and threatened with a shotgun and a metal bar while being robbed of jewelry, electronics, clothing, cash and more.
One victim, a 29-year-old woman, was shot in the upper body.
Police said the shotgun was reportedly connected to a 2014 Dodge Charger, which was stolen in June and has not yet been located.
Cst. Tammy Skrabek told 680 CJOB that police were only notified of the situation at 5 a.m. Wednesday, when one of the residents managed to escape out of an unguarded door and called them.
The caller, she said, only provided basic details about two men with firearms – not the fact that shots had been fired or that the ordeal had already lasted for hours.
“When you read the arrest report and some of the details from the victims and the victim accounts, it does read similar to something you would see on a movie.
“Somebody forcing their way into a residence, a lot of screaming, a lot of yelling, shots being fired, a lot of chaos… it’s really shocking that nobody else in the neighbourhood was alerted to this and phoned police prior to this.”
Joey Ryce Chief, 27, of Brokenhead and Lindsay Jordan Mousseau, 27, of Macdonald, have been detained at the Winnipeg Remand Centre and each face dozens of charges related to weapons, robbery, assault, confinement, breaking and entering, and uttering threats.
The gunshot victim was taken to hospital in stable condition and later released.
Community activist Sel Burrows told 680 CJOB that the rooming house in question has a sordid history.
“Going back 10 years, this address was one of the worst addresses in Point Douglas,” he said.
“It was owned by people linked to the Manitoba Warriors. We were in an ongoing battle between the community and (the owner) continually. As often as the police arrested people, he would just move new drug dealers in. We put so much pressure on him eventually he sold it a little over two years ago.”
Burrows said that the current owner – who told him she plans to evict all tenants in the wake of this situation – has been unable to keep up with maintaining the building, which has led to drug and gang activity making an unwelcome return.
He said the robbery – “a very horrible, scary, ugly situation” – was, he’s been told, the result of a meth deal gone bad.
Police continue to investigate.
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