Shots fired in home; police looking for vehicle connected to homicide

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This article was published 29/03/2023 (1102 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Shots fired in home

A 21-year-old man faces a slew of firearms charges after he surrendered to the Brandon Police Service tactical response unit and crisis negation unit Monday evening.

The events began around 4 p.m. Monday, when police received a report from a woman that a man had fired about five rounds from a .22-calibre rifle while inside the woman’s home on the 300 block of Fifth Street. Police say they don’t believe the shots were fired at a specific target.

The woman also told police she had been assaulted by the man and though she sustained injuries, she did not require medical assistance.

According to the woman, the man had left her house and was at his family’s home on the 200 block of Maryland Avenue. She said the man had firearms with him in that residence.

Police arrived to the Maryland Avenue home, along with the tactical response unit and crisis negotiation unit as precautionary measures. Police say the 21-year-old surrendered immediately at 7:24 p.m. and was co-operative with police.

When police searched the home, they found a loaded .22-calibre Lakefield Mark II rifle, a bag of ammunition, a Nightstaker CO2 pistol, a replica Glock CO2 pistol, two cans of bear spray and a set of body armour.

The man was on a weapons prohibition at the time and is facing numerous assault and firearms charges.

Vehicle connected to homicide

RCMP Major Crime Services are looking for information about a grey 2007 Honda Accord with a Saskatchewan licence plate, which police say is connected to the death of James Giesbrecht from Brandon.

While RCMP did not provide information about the connection between the death of Giesbrecht and the car, they say the car, which was stolen from Regina, was last seen in the Brandon area between Oct. 5-13, 2022.

Police are asking anyone with information about the whereabouts of the vehicle as well as anyone who was seen driving the car to call the Major Crime Services tip line at 1-431-489-8110.

Last October, RCMP found human remains in the rural municipality of Cornwallis, which they identified in January to be the remains of Giesbrecht, a 37-year-old man from Brandon, who went missing last Dec. 12.

Giesbrecht’s death is being investigated as a homicide.

Man charged for harassment

A 67-year-old man was charged Monday after allegedly harassing a woman for an ongoing period of time.

The man reportedly made unwanted contact with the woman and her friends by going to her workplace, leaving explicit notes and causing scenes when he would see her.

The man will appear in court on May 29.

Assault leads to arrest

A woman was charged Tuesday morning after allegedly assaulting an employee at a business on the 800 block of Pacific Avenue. The employee was injured but did not require medical attention.

When police arrived to arrest the 45-year-old woman, she allegedly resisted and struck a police officer before being placed in handcuffs.

She was charged with assault, assault peace officer and resist arrest.

Laundry room break-in

A 21-year-old man has been charged after he allegedly broke into the laundry room of an apartment building on the 1300 block of Princess Avenue.

Police identified the man after viewing security footage of the incident.

The accused, who’s charged with break and enter with intent, will appear in court on May 25.

Sephora opens April 6

Sephora, which specializes in beauty and cosmetic products, will finally open its doors in the Shoppers Mall next month.

The retailer will open its first store in Brandon on April 6 — making it the fifth Manitoba location.

Sephora offers its own line of makeup, skin care, hair care and fragrances, and more than 300 other beauty brands.

The company was founded in France in 1969 and got its name from the Greek word meaning beauty (sephos).

Applications open for practical nursing program in Morden

Applications for Assiniboine Community College’s practical nursing program at its satellite site in Morden are now open.

The college’s rural rotating program was created to bring practical nursing training closer to rural students to increase enrolment and encourage graduates to stay in their communities.

The program has a capacity of 25 students and will start in January 2025 with priority given to those living within 100 kilometres of Morden and living in the health region.

This is the second intake for Morden, which is in the Southern Health region, about two hours southeast of Brandon.

The program has been a huge success for the region, according to Jane Curtis, chief executive officer at Southern Health-Santé Sud.

“It is a program that not only works towards increasing the number of qualified nurses in the workforce, but it provides an accessible post-secondary option, closer to home,” Curtis said in a news release.

Currently, there are nursing students at a rural rotating site in Arborg, with training scheduled to begin in fall of 2024 in Virden and Otterburne. Most recently, ACC president Mark Frison announced a one-time diploma program for Neepawa set to begin in early 2024.

“The college continues to be responsive to the labour market and community needs, and rural rotating nursing sites are an important way of achieving that,” said Frison.

Funding from the provincial government allowed the college to expand its program in Portage la Prairie and enabled the post-secondary institution to offer three additional rural rotating sites every two years.

The training sites will help fulfil the government’s efforts to add 400 new nursing seats to meet the ongoing demand for nurses, said Advanced Education Minister Sarah Guillemard.

“This program also complements our health human resource action plan to retain, train and recruit more nurses and the implementation of our government’s Skills, Training and Knowledge Strategy,” stated Guillemard.

» The Brandon Sun