Winnipeg police say they have arrested a suspect in connection with many random unprovoked punching attacks, including one on an 83-year-old woman.
On May 1 at 9:30 a.m., police say they found an 83-year-old woman suffering from minor upper-body injuries after they went to the intersection of St Anne’s Road and Worthington Avenue for reports of an assault.
The woman was assessed by paramedics and medically cleared at the scene. Police say the suspect had already fled prior to their arrival.
Police say the suspect approached the woman and punched her repeatedly in the upper body without provocation.
The suspect is believed to have been involved in several other similar reports of assaults within the city, police say.
The second known incident happened the next day on May 2, when police say the suspect went up to a 28-year-old woman at a transit stop in the 1200 block of St Mary’s Avenue, punched her repeatedly without provocation and fled the area.
Police say the victim suffered minor upper body injuries and sought medical attention on her own accord before reporting the incident to the police.
In the third incident on May 4, police say the suspect repeatedly punched a 36-year-old man in the upper body, also inside a bus. This incident was also unprovoked and the victim was not injured.
Shortly after, the suspect got off the bus with a 39-year-old woman, punched her repeatedly unprovoked and fled the area. This victim was also uninjured during the assault.
On Friday, police went to the suspect’s home in the 200 block of Ferry Road and arrested her without incident.
Police say all the attacks were random and the suspect and victims did not know each other.
A 30-year-old woman from Winnipeg has been arrested and charged with four counts of assault. She was detained in custody.