Winnipeg police found and detonated a makeshift bomb while investigating a homicide Friday evening.
Forensic and identification officers were at an apartment on Mulvey Avenue in the city’s Fort Rouge neighbourhood looking into the fatal shooting of 46-year-old Damion Wayne Skrumeda. Around 5:45 p.m. they came across a suspicious item, public information officer Const. Jason Michalyshen said.
“Public safety priority one, we evacuated the building, we called members of our bomb unit to further assess the item and, unfortunately, (it) was deemed to be potentially live or volatile,” he said.
The bomb unit was called to detonate the device inside the apartment, Michalyshen said.
The officer wouldn’t confirm what the bomb was made of, but said it was unfamiliar to police.
“We’re dealing with something that is a little unknown at this point,” Michalyshen said.
The circumstances surrounding why the bomb was made or why it was in the apartment remain unclear, the officer added.
Police were initially called to the apartment building just after 11 p.m. on Wednesday with reports of a shooting, where they found Skrumeda’s body inside a unit.
Police couldn’t confirm the apartment suite belonged to the victim on Saturday.
Skrumeda’s death marks the 26th slaying in the city this year, and the fourth homicide in one week.
The investigation continues. Police are asking anyone with information and/or video surveillance footage to contact the homicide unit at 204-986-6508, or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 204-786-TIPS.
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