Man killed, woman wounded in stabbings in Winnipeg's Point Douglas area
Neighbour says three-year-old grandson playing outside at the time
A man is dead and a woman is in hospital after both were stabbed in Winnipeg's North Point Douglas neighbourhood.
Police were called to a rooming house at Euclid Avenue between Granville and Hallet streets around 7:45 p.m. Thursday, where the 29-year-old man and 31-year-old woman were found critically injured.
Both were rushed to hospital, where the man later died. The woman's condition has been upgraded to stable.
No arrests have been made.
Police spokesperson Const. Jay Murray said police have been to the rooming house in the past "but I don't want to call it a problem house."
Collette Lebrun, who lives two houses down from the residence, says the house has been a problem since before she moved into the area nearly 12 years ago.
Lebrun said her grandson was playing in her front yard at the time of the incident.
"He's three years old. If he was six years old, he could be a witness to a murder. He was probably the only one that actually saw them, and people in that house know who the hell was there," Lebrun told CBC News.
Lebrun's daughter, Ashlee Lambkin, said her son was asking why people were screaming and crying.
"I had to go put him inside when he should be comfortable in his own environment," she said.
'Hurt, angry, furious'
Point Douglas activist Sel Burrows said he feels "hurt, angry, furious" after the killing.
The rooming house includes a mixture of decent people and others who have problems, Burrows said. Burrows, chair of the Point Douglas Residents' Committee, has tried to work with landlords and police to clean up problem rooming houses in the area.
He said he would like to see the landlord hire a full-time caretaker to live in the house: "Someone who is in control, and if people are behaving badly, are evicted," he said.
"We'll be meeting with senior police officials to see what strategies we can put in place so this kind of stuff doesn't happen again."
CBC attempted to contact the landlord of the rooming house, but calls were not returned.
Murray said the man and woman are both known to police, although he didn't elaborate.
The man's death is the city's 16th homicide of 2017.
Anyone with information that could assist investigators is asked to call 204-986-6508 or Crime Stoppers at 204-786-TIPS (8477).
With files from Austin Grabish