3 WINNIPEG COPS SHOT

Police Serving Warrant Wounded on Jubilee Ave.

How can we protect our police?

Three city cops were believed to have been shot while in the line of
duty in a south Winnipeg neighbourhood late last night.

The incident occurred around 10 p.m. at a residence in the 700-block
of Jubilee Avenue near Rosedale Street.

Winnipeg police union head Loren Schinkel confirmed three cops were
shot.

The street crimes unit had been executing a drug warrant at a home on
the street.

It was unknown at press time how serious the injuries were. One
officer was wounded in the leg, one in the arm, and the third was in
surgery at press time.

A male suspect was in custody in connection with the shootings and at
press time was in hospital. It was unclear if he had been shot.

A large number of officers converged on the area mere minutes after
the shootings, blocking off Jubilee between Pembina Highway and
Dunkirk Drive.

Police held a press conference about 12:30 a.m. in front of a nearby
restaurant, but, would not officially confirm officers had been shot.

"This is a very serious investigation," said police Const. Jacqueline
Chaput. "It's not something we deal with every day."

Area resident Don Dwyer was out walking his black Labrador a little
after 11 p.m. when he saw the commotion on Jubilee Avenue.

"They had one person on the boulevard, just kinda holding him down ...
that's when all the cop cars were showing up, and they just started
telling everyone to get out of the way," said Dwyer.

"I couldn't really see, it was pretty dark," he said, adding there
were about 10-12 police officers around the man.

Jubilee Avenue was expected to be closed to traffic until this
morning.

The shootings come nearly five years after a Manitoba Mountie was
murdered. On Dec. 21, 2001, Const. Dennis Strongquill was shot near
Russell, Man., after he and another officer attempted to pull over a
car. Rob ert Sand was sentenced to life in prison, while his girlfriend
Laurie Bell received a 10-year sentence. Sand's brother, Danny, was
shot and killed by a police sniper.

It's been more than 21 years since a Winnipeg cop was shot on the job.
On Oct. 20, 1985, constables Kelly Harrington and Kim Koswin were
investigating a break-in at Greenway School when a male wearing combat
clothing ran out and opened fire with an assault rifle. Harrington was
wounded in his right hand and left hip while Koswin was hit in the
left arm. Both survived.

On March 20, 1984, Winnipeg police Const. Rick Donovan was shot in the
chest during by a suspected drug dealer he and a partner had been
staking out. Donovan was wearing a bulletproof vest -- one of the
first city cops to wear one.

The last city cop to die in the line of duty was detective Ronald
Houston, who was stabbed to death by Thomas Mason Shand on June 26,
1970, while chasing a suspect. His partner, John DeGroot, was stabbed
in the shoulder.