Woman dies after collision with police vehicle in Fort Rouge Park

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A 30-year-old woman was killed Monday night after being struck by a Winnipeg Police Service cruiser “barrelling down” a gravel path that serves as an entrance to a homeless encampment in Fort Rouge Park, a witness said.

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Terry Johnsen said the woman, who he didn’t know, brought her husband, an old friend, to the encampment on the bank of the Assiniboine River in the park off River Avenue to visit with him.

“When they were leaving, I guess they only got halfway up that hill on that road and the cops came barrelling down and ran the lady over. Dragged her a little bit, and she passed,” Johnsen said Tuesday, as Main Street Project outreach workers visited the site.

Johnsen said police vehicles and outreach workers are the only people who drive downhill along a gravel path that turns to get near the encampment and MSP only visits during the day. The path is reachable via a single-lane paved roadway off River Avenue.

“The fire trucks won’t even bring their ambulances down here. That’s crazy. When I went up to get the ambulance to come down to where she was, they didn’t want to until I told them it was a cop that ran (her) over. Then they were down here in a second,” Johnsen said.

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WPS said at a press conference Tuesday that the officers were returning a person to the encampment when they collided with the woman. Police provided medical care before she was transported to hospital in critical condition, where she died, it said.

Acting chief Art Stannard said using the path inside the park and going down the hill toward the encampment was up to officers’ discretion.

“They’re driving a person back home to that encampment, and they felt they needed to drive him down that path,” he said, adding “encampments, as you know, are on riverbanks, so they’re hard to get at. So if there’s a route or a path that can get you to that location, they may use it.”

Stannard deferred most questions to the Independent Investigation Unit of Manitoba (IIU), the police watchdog which has taken over investigating the fatality, and said he understands that may lead to some frustration.

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“I know this is a very heartbreaking, emotional, difficult time for the family. They’re looking for answers. They want to know what happened.”

Stannard said he spoke with both members involved in the incident and “they’re totally devastated by this.” They will go through a critical incident response which includes a few days leave and visiting with the staff psychologist, he said.

“The service is heartbroken for the family, and they’re heartbroken for her friends and the community and the encampment. We want them to know they have our thoughts and our condolences.”

kevin.king@kleinmedia.ca

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