On October 15, 2023, at approximately 4:50 pm, Portage la Prairie RCMP received a report of an assault in the back lane of 1st Street Southwest in Portage la Prairie. On arrival, a 21-year-old male from Long Plain First Nation was located with serious injuries from an edged weapon and transported to hospital.
While police were responding to the assault, another call was received about two more victims. One victim was a 15-year-old male walking home. He was attacked by two male youths who were carrying machetes. They tried to take his personal belongings. The male was transported to local hospital. As police were investigating this incident, a third call came in of an assault with a machete.
A 14-year-old male was attacked around the same time as the other two attacks and had attended to the hospital himself, where police were contacted.
Police were able to identify the youths. A 13-year-old male and 14-year-old male, both from Portage, were arrested. The 13-year-old is charged with Aggravated Assault, Possession of a Weapon for a Dangerous Purpose, Robbery with Offensive Weapon, and Assault with a Weapon.
The 14-year-old is charged with Aggravated Assault, Possession of a Weapon for a Dangerous Purpose, Assault with a Weapon, Robbery, Fail to Comply with Probation Order, and Fail to Comply with Release Order.
They remain in custody.
