Mayor praises police for non-violent takedown at Portage & Main
Officers were unaware female standing in intersection was waving a replica gun
Mayor Brian Bowman is commending the Winnipeg Police Service for the way it handled Tuesday's takedown at Portage & Main.
On Tuesday morning, a woman wearing a Kabuki mask pointed a replica gun at her head in the midst of the city's busiest intersection. She then removed her mask and waved the replica weapon around before police apprehended her.
Police were not aware the gun was a replica at the time. They later charged a 17-year-old with possessing a weapon for a dangerous purpose, causing a disturbance and public mischief.
On Wednesday, Bowman thanked the police for ending the incident without violence.
"Obviously, these situations can escalate and I think the manner in which the men and women of the Winnipeg Police Service dealt with this situation is something Winnipeggers can be proud of," Bowman told reporters at a morning press conference in downtown's Air Canada Park.
The mayor said he does not possess any additional information about the motivation for the incident or the woman who was charged.
Bowman was speaking after a press conference where he said he followed through on a 2014 election-campaign commitment to increase the Downtown Winnipeg Business Improvement Zone's complement of homelessness-outreach workers.
The city increased its grant to the BIZ $150,000 to allow it to hire four more workers to combat homelessness, Bowman said. There are about 1,400 homeless people in Winnipeg, he added.
