A Winnipeg teen “will never be the same” after he was randomly assaulted Saturday in the latest machete attack on city streets, prompting an assurance from Manitoba’s justice minister that the government will take action.
The 15-year-old boy was attacked by another youth. His arms were slashed to the bone and he lost a finger.
“My brother will never be the same, my family will never be the same,” said Michalla Smart, the victim’s half-sister, who described the injuries, including two broken arms, skull fractures and serious cuts to his arms, back and face.
NIC ADAM / FREE PRESS
Winnipeg police performed emergency medical care to the boy in the 300 block of Selkirk Avenue before he was taken to hospital in critical condition.
Police were sent to the 300 block of Selkirk Avenue at about 11 p.m. and found a boy suffering from “life-altering injuries” from a machete attack, Winnipeg Police Service spokeswoman Const. Dani McKinnon said Monday.
Officers performed emergency medical care at the scene before the boy was taken to hospital in critical condition, she said.
He spent more than 20 hours undergoing emergency surgery to repair damage to his face and reattach at least one completely severed finger. He is now awake and able to speak, his sister said.
“By some miracle, they missed all of the vital organs,” she said. “He is lucky to be alive. If (police) hadn’t gotten to him in the time that they did, he would have bled out.”
Officers, with help from the canine unit, arrested a 15-year-old suspect on the 300 block of Flora Avenue shortly after the attack, police said.
Investigators determined the two youths, who did not know each other, became involved in a dispute. The victim was knocked to the ground and kicked, punched and struck with the machete, police said.
Smart, who described her brother as “not the type to back down when approached or challenged,” said he was walking with friends when the other teen tried to rob him of his phone.
The arrested youth has been charged with aggravated assault, robbery, possession of a weapon and four counts of failing to comply with a probation order, police said.
Smart wants those charges upgraded to attempted murder, citing the severity of the attack. She also called on provincial officials to intervene in Winnipeg, where WPS data indicates knife crimes rose by 22 per cent last year.
“We all know the stories. Winnipeg is literally known, and made fun of, for its knife violence,” she said.
“My brother will never be the same, my family will never be the same.”–Michalla Smart
“It’s gotten to a point where so many people are losing their lives, and too many young people are losing their lives. We are one of the very few lucky ones. Enough people have lost their lives to street violence in Winnipeg and it has got to be stopped.”
Manitoba Justice Minister Matt Wiebe said the province will consult with community partners, law enforcement agencies and business leaders on how best to regulate the sale of machetes.
“These kinds of attacks are appalling and any kind of knife violence is too much,” he told the Free Press.
“We are hearing this is an ongoing problem and we need to take action, and that’s what we intend to do.”
Wiebe did not provide specifics but said the government will have more information when the legislative session resumes in the fall.
Justice critic Wayne Balcaen said the opposition Progressive Conservatives are also prepared to bring forward legislation to restrict machete sales.
He pointed to regulations introduced by the Tories when they were in government last April to control the sale of bear repellent, which was commonly being used as a violent weapon in the city.
Under the new regulations, vendors selling the caustic spray must obtain photo identification from customers and submit the information to the province.
The Tories believed the requirements would deter people from using bear spray illegally, but not prohibit legal purchases.
“By some miracle, they missed all of the vital organs. He is lucky to be alive.”–Michalla Smart
Data from WPS shows the number of bear-spray crimes dropped by roughly 24 per cent after the rules were introduced, falling from 1,182 in 2022 to 893 in 2023.
“Our bear-spray legislation shows that a machete legislation can have the same impact,” Balcaen said. “If the NDP chose to follow that framework… it’s basically wrapped up in a bow for them.”
Balcaen, a former Brandon police chief, said he would like to see any legislation surrounding machetes to be “as strong as it can possibly be.”
While the province cannot introduce a new bill when the legislature is not in session, the justice critic said there are other methods the NDP could use in the interim to introduce regulatory changes around machete sales.
“(Machetes are a) danger to the public. It’s a danger to our officers and to medical staff,” he said. “It’s absolutely incumbent on the government to… not only listen, but to act quickly on this.”
Wiebe said his government is taking steps to curb all forms of violent crime, citing more recent investments of more than $1 million for the WPS and other community-led crime initiatives.
Last week, Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation Chief Angela Levasseur renewed calls for the province to regulate machete sales similar to the way bear repellent is now handled.
The Nelson House-based community has been advocating for such changes since at least 2022, with support from the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs.
Any future funding or legislation must consider all aspects of violent crime, including its root causes, CommUNITY204 founder Daniel Hidalgo said.
“(Machetes are a) danger to the public. It’s a danger to our officers and to medical staff.”–Justice critic Wayne Balcaen
Hidalgo, who works with at-risk youths, said he believes providing services and supports in the form of community programs can help prevent them from becoming trapped in dangerous or criminal lifestyles.
“They justify carrying weapons by saying it’s a means of protection, but my fear is that sometimes… they are proactively involving themselves in (instances of violence),” he said.
Hidalgo supports the idea of cracking down on the sale of the weapons, he said.
“I think (the province) should definitely put policy and procedure in place to mitigate opportunities for those things to be misused,” he said.
tyler.searle@freepress.mb.ca
Tyler Searle
Reporter
Tyler Searle is a multimedia producer who writes for the Free Press‘s city desk. A graduate of Red River College Polytechnic’s creative communications program, he wrote for the Stonewall Teulon Tribune, Selkirk Record and Express Weekly News before joining the paper in 2022. Read more about Tyler.
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