Berserk killer slain by police
Date: Mar 28, 2007 7:32 AM
PUBLICATION: WINNIPEG FREE PRESS
DATE: 2007.03.28
PAGE: A1
BYLINE: Carol Sanders and Mike McIntyre
SECTION: City
WORD COUNT: 1005

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Berserk killer slain by police
Man kills one senior, stabs another at care home

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A knife-wielding man killed by police Tuesday morning after going on a
deadly rampage inside a Wolseley care home had been exhibiting bizarre
behaviour in recent weeks that had neighbours baffled.

Winnipeg police are now equally stunned, saying they had no choice but
to shoot the armed suspect when they arrived at Madison Memorial Lodge
on Evanson Street just after 8 a.m. to find a horrific scene inside.

One elderly tenant — identified by residents as Alex Kowalchuk — had
suffered a gruesome neck injury that would take his life.

A second senior had also suffered knife wounds.

The suspect was still armed with the weapon when confronted by police in
the communal kitchen of the facility, which is located in the basement
of the four-storey building.

Police spokeswoman Const. Jacqueline Chaput said the man refused to drop
the weapon, triggering a deadly encounter with officers.

The mental health of the dead killer will likely be a key issue as
police investigate the incident, which will also be the subject of a
mandatory provincial inquest because a civilian was killed at the hands
of police.

Some residents of the building said they do not feel safe because it has
become a warehouse for some of society’s most vulnerable, including the
mentally ill, addicts, recently paroled prisoners and the elderly. The
building is run by a non-profit agency.

Some tenants of the building told the Free Press they heard officers
first tried to use a Taser to stop the man, but to no avail.

“I heard three shots — pow, pow, pow,” said resident Chris Shaw, who
awoke in his main-floor suite to the sounds of arguing, screaming and
eventually gunfire coming from the basement.

Police weren’t releasing the names of the man they killed, but residents
knew him by the first name of Mohammed and described him as having a
slight build and a normally pleasant demeanor.

Shaw, 37, said he noticed a disturbing change in behaviour from the man
in recent weeks.

“Mohammed moved in more than a year ago, and I’d always say ‘Hi’
to him
and he’d always say ‘Hi’ to me. But the last three weeks or so, he’s
been real quiet, staying to himself,” said Shaw.

“He would go outside, be out there alone for like six or seven hours at
a time, just pacing around, talking to himself,” said Shaw.

He said a care worker at the home recently told him “Mohammed is sick.
He’s hallucinating.” Another resident said the man was upset because of
a recent court case in which he was the subject of a restraining order.

Shaw described the stabbing victim, Kowalchuk, as a “very cool guy” and
long-time resident who never rubbed anyone the wrong way.

“I’ve been here four years and five months, and he was here before me.
He was a very nice person, a bit older, people would always help him on
payday get to Harry’s to buy some groceries,” he said.

Shaw said Kowalchuk used a walker and had difficulty moving around on
his own, which required him to receive home care at the block.

“They would come in, do his laundry, clean his room, that sort of
thing,” he said.

Neighbour Gary Chartrand called Kowalchuk a “very easy-going” man who
liked watching the Space Channel in the lodge’s common room, and never
had conflicts with other residents.

“He was a frail old gentleman,” said Chartrand. “I don’t understand
it.”
Shaw said he heard the other stabbing victim — a man he only knew as
Woody — may have suffered a stroke while being attacked.

Police said his condition isn’t considered to be life-threatening.

Residents gathered outside the block yesterday, still stunned at what
had gone down.

Wayne Dorvault said the building’s administrator Susan Hall-Amado was
telling people to stay in their rooms.

“Nine cop cars pulled up and they ran into the building,” he said.

“I heard three shots and one guy was taken out stabbed in the throat.

One other guy (who was injured) didn’t look too serious.” The Winnipeg
Regional Health Authority sent its four-member mobile crisis unit to the
building, said spokeswoman Heidi Graham.

“It’s traumatic for people who witnessed it,” she said.

And for the people cowering in their rooms who heard it.

“He was threatening to hurt someone,” said resident Brian Byers, who’s
lived in the building 20 years. Byers said he was too frightened to
leave his suite to go to the communal kitchen area for breakfast.

Police initially told reporters at the scene Tuesday morning that just
one person was taken to hospital in critical condition. No mention was
made of police using deadly force or shots being fired.

As soon as reporters left the scene, a police cruiser was taped off as
part of the crime scene.

The officer involved in fatal shooting has a number of years’
experience, said Chaput. He will be interviewed by homicide detectives
and forced to turn in his weapon and go on mandatory leave under police
protocol.

[email protected] www.mikeoncrime.com — With files from
Lindsey Wiebe Police involved in other shootings Tuesday’s deadly
shooting in Wolseley bears an eerie resemblance to the last time
Winnipeg police used deadly force.

It was late December, 2005, when officers were called to the Silver
Heights apartment building for a report of a stabbing in progress.

Police arrived to find Zunga Bashir in the process of killing James
David. They shot and killed Bashir after he refused to drop the weapon
or stop the attack.

The incident remains under police investigation and no date for a
mandatory inquest has been set.

There have been other recent shootings involving police: z December 7,
2006: Police shot and wounded a suspect while executing a search warrant
at a home on Jubilee Avenue — but only after they were fired upon
first. The suspect received a serious hand injury and remains in custody
awaiting a preliminary hearing.

z Dec. 2, 2005: Howard Fleury was killed after a confrontation inside
his family’s Alfred Street home. He was armed with a knife and advanced
on officers coming down a stairway, ignoring repeated demands to drop
the weapon. He had also been pepper-sprayed, but it had no effect.
Police say their end of the investigation is now in the hands of the
Vancouver Police Department to determine if procedures were properly
followed. No inquest has been called yet because the case remains open.

z Jan. 31, 2005: Matthew Dumas, 18, was shot after he ignored repeated
orders to drop a screwdriver. Justice Minister Dave Chomiak has said an
inquest into Dumas’ death will likely be called this spring.

z Jan. 3, 2005: Dennis St. Paul had just been placed under arrest, but
not handcuffed, in Norway House, when he wrestled Const. Darcy Muth’s
baton from him and hit the officer in the head. Muth pulled out his gun
and fired two shots. The Regina Police Service conducted an independent
review of the St. Paul shooting and concluded no charges should be laid.
A Crown attorney from Alberta was also consulted.

The Second Amendment IS Homeland Security !