1 Person arrested in stabbing of Health Sciences Centre security officer
Winnipeg Canada June 22 2018 Winnipeg police have arrested and charged a 56-year-old Winnipeg man after a security officer was assaulted at Health Sciences Centre.
Const. Tammy Skrabek said officers were called to the Crisis Response Centre area of HSC around 4:30 p.m. Wednesday because a man was fighting with security.
Skrabek said the man threatened to return with a firearm, and the confrontation escalated to the point where the man assaulted a guard.
“The victim was a security guard. He had been stabbed in the upper body, sort of a superficial stab wound but there was a lot of blood.”
Speaking with CTV News, Manitoba Government and General Employees’ Union president Michelle Gawronsky said the attacker was carrying a needle.
“Came in with syringes with blood in it, and sprayed our security officer with the blood and then punctured the officer in the temple with the syringe,” said Gawronsky.
Winnipeg police could not confirm what the security officer was stabbed with, but Skrabek said the man they arrested was carrying a syringe.
“Officers haven’t been able to confirm what was contained in that syringe,” said Skrabek.
“It could possibly have been blood, it could possibly have been drugs, it could possibly have been another liquid substance of some form.”
Police also said the 56-year-old arrested is known to them, and has a history of violence.
Gawronsky is calling on the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority and the province to look at the incident, and stressed that she’d like to see more training for security officers.
“They need to have the ability to protect the public the best way they can. If it means detaining someone, if it means there should be handcuffs used,” said Gawronsky.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the WRHA wrote:
“No other staff or patients were hurt. The officer is receiving ongoing medical treatment. We will continue to work closely with the Winnipeg Police Service as they investigate this incident.
Any incident of this nature can cause concern for staff. A Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) team will provide support to any staff affected by this incident.”
