Person found dead at downtown Winnipeg bus shelter

A person was found dead inside a downtown Winnipeg bus shelter on Monday morning.

A Winnipeg Transit driver reported a possible medical incident just after 6 a.m. after finding a person in a bus shelter at Graham Avenue and Vaughan Street, according to a Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service news release Monday morning.

Crews arrived and assessed the patient, who was declared dead.

The shelter had yellow police tape around it just before 8 a.m. and tarps pulled up to block the public's view while investigators were there.

The Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service did not provide any other information, deferring to the office of the chief medical examiner. The office confirmed to CBC News that staff were called to that location but did not share any more details.

Sy Klassen, an employee at Bison Books, said he noticed three or four police officers at the bus shelter across the street from the business before 9 a.m.

"It's not something you really want to have close by," Klassen said. "I can't say I am particularly surprised, with what I've seen from downtown Winnipeg over the past year that I've been here."

He suggested it would be hard for anyone who spends time downtown not to notice "the pretty horrifying social situation down here."

"I am very sad that it is the way it is right now," Klassen said.

"I'd really like to see more focus on improving some of the social situations and the economic disparity in this city."

Bus shelter deaths

The death reported Monday is the second in a city bus shelter in four months.

Kayla Rae, 27, was found unresponsive in December, lying under blankets on the floor of a shelter at the corner of Tache Avenue and Goulet Street.

Street outreach workers patrolling the area came across her after checking inside the frosted-up shelter. They performed chest compressions and called 911.

Rae was rushed to hospital in critical condition by paramedics where she was pronounced dead.

There have been several other people found dead in bus shelters in Winnipeg in recent years, including one case in February of last year at Portage Avenue and Edmonton Street and another in the same area in February 2021.