WINNIPEG — It started out as a quiet evening with kids playing outside on a Winnipeg street last year when suddenly officers opened fire on a stolen pickup truck speeding toward them before it rammed into a house, igniting a fireball. Manitoba's police watchdog said in its report Wednesday that two responding officers would not face charges and they acted within the rules. "Officers expressed fear for their own well-being, and the well-being of members of the public in the area," Bruce Sychuk, acting civilian director of the Independent Investigation Unit of Manitoba, wrote in the report. The report details the events of April 11, 2025, that ended with two arrests. Earlier in the day, Winnipeg fire and paramedics crews found the driver and a passenger in a red truck passed out with a crack pipe on the seat. The agency's report said the driver had trouble speaking and could hardly walk. They took the car keys and gave them to a homeowner, who said the two were helping him move and he would take care of them. Police would later determine the truck was stolen. Two officers blocked the road with their cruiser to prevent the suspects from fleeing. The truck reversed away from the officers, smashing into a vehicle behind it with a family inside. With no way out from behind, the truck driver sped at the officers, who fired at the vehicle. The report said the truck did not stop until it crashed into a house and caught fire. The two officers fired a combined 16 bullets within four seconds, the report said, including ones that shattered the passenger-side window as the truck mounted the curb and sped past them. "The officers made a split-second decision while their well-being could be in jeopardy after already watching the truck ram another vehicle," said Sychuk. While the investigation cleared the officers, some witnesses on Home Street in the city's West End told investigators that they had serious concerns. A man sitting on his porch during the shooting said he was shocked no was injured since there were people walking their dogs in the area. A woman who had rushed out to see what was going on later yelled at the officers for shooting their guns, saying there were kids around and people riding their bikes. She said she was amazed no one was shot, including herself, as she was only about six metres away. Another woman said she was preparing supper when she saw lights flashing outside. She told her children to get into the house, and that officers started to fire just as the last child was about to get inside. The driver of the vehicle that the truck rammed also expressed her dismay at the shooting. She talked about all the people in the area, and the risks that bullets could have caused to the large fuel tank in the bed of the pickup to explode. That tank did explode, but not until shortly after when another police cruiser rammed the fleeing pickup truck from behind. The force sent the truck crashing into a house, where it hit a gas line and caught fire. The owner of the house, who had to flee too quickly to check on her animals, said it looked like a blow torch coming from near her basement window. The flames reached the tank, causing it to blow up and light both the truck and house on fire. Despite the extensive damage, no one was seriously hurt. Sychuk noted that no one was injured in the shooting either, though a stray bullet did hit a house. Winnipeg police did not immediately provide a comment on the concerns raised by residents. This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 29, 2026. Ian Bickis, The Canadian Press
