Winnipeg man who witnessed attack on Ukrainian immigrant says he’s ashamed for the city – Winnipeg | Globalnews.ca

WARNING: This story contains details that some may find disturbing. Discretion Advised.

A Winnipeg man who witnessed a violent stabbing in The Forks this weekend says the incident left him ashamed for the city, though he is thankful the victim has recovered.

Jorge Torres told 680 CJOB’s The beginning He was with his wife at the downtown gathering place to enjoy the Canada Day festivities on Friday when they came across the victim, a Ukrainian immigrant with a knife still to his neck.

“We saw a man with his hand on his neck stepping on the road waving to people,” Torres said.

“When we got to him, he was yelling, ‘I need help, I need help.’ He had been stabbed, so we immediately stopped.”

Torres said his wife, who speaks Ukrainian, was able to help, as the victim was with a friend who did not speak English. The man was rushed to hospital, where he is now recovering.

Although police confirmed a stabbing occurred, they have not made any arrests in what marks the third violent incident to take place at the landmark in just five days.

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Torres said that now that he has had time to process what happened, the incident has left him scared to go out to Winnipeg.

“It just shows these things that are happening here,” he said.

“This guy has been here two weeks, he has no enemies, he is not involved in gangs and all that here. This could have been anyone. It could have been me.

The overall crime rate in the city is rising, according to a University of Winnipeg criminologist.

Michael Weinrath told Global News there was a hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but it’s on the upswing since the city reopened.

“If you look at the recent numbers, the crime rate has been going up since about 2016, leveled off and then went down a little bit during the pandemic,” he said.

“Unfortunately, since the restrictions were lifted, we have started to see crime on the rise again, and not only violent crime, but also property crime.

“Winnipeg tends to lead in terms of violent crime. Sometimes we compete with Regina or Thunder Bay for leadership, or Edmonton for leadership in homicides, but overall we’re always near the top, unfortunately, in violent crime.”

Despite a spate of juvenile delinquents making headlines in recent months in connection with violent attacks, Weinrath said technically juvenile crime is down in the city.

“It’s a little surprising because some of our core problems are drug addiction, dysfunctional families in low-income areas…. One would think that the juvenile delinquency rate would have increased, but it has actually decreased fairly steadily.”

Global News has reached out to Winnipeg Police for more information about Friday’s incident.