Police chasing jester, masked man after attempted armed robbery at Winnipeg bar

Police searched west Winnipeg for two suspectsafter an attempted robbery, a gun being fired and a person being thrown into a window at a bar.

"When we got there it was completemayhem. People were running out of the bar ... it was not a great situation," said Candace, who asked that her last name not be used.

She had arrived just moments after the chaos started Tuesday night inside the lounge part ofGizzysRestaurant & Bar.

"It's just been in the last little while that things seem to have gotten quite crazy at that place," said Candace, who was picking up her daughternear the building on Ness Avenue,in the Sturgeon Creek Village strip mall.

Emergency crews were called around 8:30 p.m. and witnessesdescribed pandemonium, including two suspects running out and fighting with a machete one of them wearing a jester-type costume.

"One guy came out, he was in like a clown-type jester suit. Another guy came out ... they were kind of wrestling," saidCandace's15-year-olddaughterAlexus, whohad just left a dance class in the strip mall and was standing outside.

The second man, wearing a blackbalaclavaor face mask, ran at the jester, she said, adding shesaw a long machete-type knife and heard a gunshot.

Police confirmed a gun was shot at the ceiling inside the bar but said no one was hit. A sawed-off shotgun could be seen behind Gizzy's in the parking lot but police did not provide any information on whether that was the gun that was fired.

"As I was coming around, I saw this guy in the joker costume, thinking 'oh great, here's Halloween,yayall these idiots walking around in their clown costumes because [the movie] ITis out,'"Candacesaid.

She said people were yelling at Alexus to call 911 but Candace quickly scooped up her daughter and called 911 herself.

"Inside the bar, there was somebody holding a chair. We could see the guy in the balaclava in the background," Candace said.

"We saw the glass being shattered, we were there, and the glass got completely shattered, somebody got pushed againstit."

A man wearing a black shirt was pushed through the glass, she said, adding he didn't appear to be wearing a costume.

"It was a bad situation. So quickly, so quickly how things escalated it seemed."

The dance studio calledto make sure Alexus was safe and to say the studiowas on lockdown, according to Candace, who said her daughter was shaken up andcrying all the way home.

"I'm just thankful that she's safe. I'm just very thankful that she's safe."

Police said theperson shovedthrough the windowwas treated for a minorinjury and no one was hurtfromthe gunshot.

TheWinnipeg police major crimes unit is investigating.