3 people taken to hospital after out-of-control house party in RM of Rosser, RCMP say
Party announced on Snapchat caused thousands of dollars of damage to vacation rental home
Three teens were taken to hospital after violence broke out at a wild drug and alcohol-fuelled house party northwest of Winnipeg last month, RCMP say.
Mounties received multiple calls about the party at a vacation rental home on Feb. 24 at about 11:30 p.m., including a report of gunshots, and when police arrived, many people were running and driving away from the house, RCMP said in a news release on Monday.
When officers went into the building, empty liquor bottles littered the ground, but no gun was found.
Almost immediately, a teenager approached the officers and said her friend was in need of emergency medical assistance. Officers cleared the way for paramedics to take her to hospital.
Another teen was also found hurt outside of the home and taken to hospital with serious injuries, RCMP media relations officer Tara Seel said in an interview on Monday.
Police later discovered another partygoer was taken to hospital to be treated for injuries sustained there.
Seel says two of the three teens were assaulted, though not shot, while a third overdosed. Others were hurt at the party, but didn't need to go to hospital, she added.
Investigators have determined the party was announced on Snapchat and that many people at the party didn't know each other.
The partygoers caused thousands of dollars in damage to the rental house, Seel says.
"You can imagine three floors full of youth with access to alcohol and drugs and no knowledge of who owned the property or was responsible for it, no sense of respect or regard for that property. The damage was pretty extensive," she said.
Bottles of alcohol, cans, cups and deflated balloons could still be seen littering the ground of the property on Monday.
This is the second violent, out-of-control house party promoted in that area of Manitoba in less than six months.
On Halloween weekend, police were called to a house party in East St. Paul, where more than a hundred teenagers and young adults were congregating.
A number of them swarmed officers, spat on them and shouted racial slurs, then jumped on the cruisers, RCMP said.
Partygoers shattered a windshield on one cruiser, while the roof and hood of another was damaged. Some people in the crowd also launched fireworks at police and the cruisers.
Mounties also interfered in a potential sexual assault.
Nine people were arrested in connection with that party as of December.
Seel said the parties escalated to violence quickly at both parties.
"The safety risks at events such as these are off the charts ... in this particular instance, as with the one in East St. Paul, the violence escalated very quickly and escalated to a pretty severe level," she said.
Seel said she advises youth not to attend parties hosted by people they don't know, and to advise a trusted adult or the police.
WATCH | Violent drug and alcohol-fuelled house party in Rosser sends teens to hospital:
