Man killed by Winnipeg police

An entire block in Winnipeg's West Broadway neighbourhood was ringed with police tape for most of the day Monday as investigators tried to piece together the situation that led to a fatal police shooting.

Two officers responded to a call at an apartment building at 34 Langside St., between Westminster and Cornish avenues, just before 11 p.m. Monday.

Occupants of one suite had called 911 to report they were being threatened by a man with a weapon.

When officers were about to enter the building from the back, they were approached by a man with a gun, police said.

The officers made several attempts to get the man to put the firearm down, said police spokesman Sgt. Kelly Dennison, including using a Taser, or stun gun,on the man.

"Initially, the gentleman was armed with what officers felt was a baseball bat or a large bat as well as a firearm," he said.

"The Taser was deployed, which was unsuccessful.The threat obviously escalated from that point forcing the officers into a lethal-force situation, where one of the officers discharged his firearm."

Dennison would not say how many shots were fired or where the man was hit.

The man was taken to hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries.

Police have not yet identified the man, but said he was not previously known to police. Investigators said the incident was not a domestic situation, nor is it believed to be gang-related.

The officers involved were not injured and have been placed on administrative leave. Dennison said he believed the officers had between two to five years of experience on the force.

Witness says he heard 4 shots

"It sounded like glass popping," said Jeff Pirrie, who lives next door to the apartment building. "I'd just gone to bed and all of a sudden, as soon as I heard the popping sound, I woke up and got up right away."

But, he says, he initially didn't find the noise alarming.

"I just thought someone had broken glass or something," he said, adding that the incident doesn't make him feel the neighbourhood is unsafe.

Patrick Murdock, whose apartment overlooks the area where the shooting took place, said he heard four gunshots.

"All I heard was some yelling," he said. "I heard, somebody said, 'F---ing shoot me already!' and then I heard four shots, and everything was kind of quiet after that."

At first, Murdock said, he thought the shooting was gang-related.

"I heard a bunch of yelling and I didn't hear anybody saying, you know, 'Drop your weapon' or anything, so automatically I thought it was gang members shooting at each other. So that was my first instinct."

Clarissa Audy also heard the shots from her apartment on Furby Street.

"There was no screaming or nothing. There was just gunshots, that's it," she said.

"I went out to the balcony to check, see what was going on, and there was a guy laying on the ground and one of the cops was giving CPR, like,to his chest."

Audy described the man as dark-complexioned, in his late 20s or early 30s, wearing a baseball cap and dark-coloured clothes.

The police homicide unit has taken over the investigation. A provincial inquest will also be carried out, as required by Manitoba law.