A teen is dead and another teen faces a charge of first-degree murder in Brandon – the city’s first of 2019.
Brandon police said officers responded to a report of a stabbing in the 500 block of Louise Avenue on Wednesday around 6:45 p.m., where they found an unresponsive 15-year-old boy.
Officers and paramedics performed CPR on the victim, who was rushed to hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Police said they believe the stabbing was personal in nature and that the suspect and victim knew each other.
The suspect was lodged at Brandon Correctional Centre and will be appearing in court on Thursday to face the first-degree murder charge.
Brandon Police Service Sgt. Kirby Sararas told 680 CJOB that although it’s the first murder of the year in Manitoba’s second-largest city, Brandon has been facing an increase in violent crime.
“We definitely have seen an escalation of violence, especially with the onset of meth being brought more and more into the community, we are seeing more and more individuals carrying weapons,” she said.
“This is something that I think our members have always been prepared for, just in light of what we’ve been seeing on an ongoing basis and in the day-to-day arrests they’re making.”
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