A Ukrainian refugee living in Winnipeg for two weeks was the victim of a Canada Day stabbing in The Forks.
Jula Zahn and Jorge Torres decided to go for a late-night drive to The Forks on July 1 when they saw cars swerving around a waving pedestrian.
“And when we saw, we were like, this guy is actually bleeding. That’s why we stopped. We ran up to him and saw that he said he had been stabbed in the neck and we said, ‘Sit down and lie down,'” Torres said.
Torres tried to comfort the man, who still had a knife to his neck, while Zahn called 911.
Zahn, who speaks Ukrainian, stepped in to help translate. The couple learned that the victim and his friend were recent immigrants fleeing the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
“July 1st was their two weeks in Manitoba and they said today we just found the apartment and moved downtown and it’s our first night out which is a trip to The Forks to celebrate Canada Day.” Zahn recalls.
Zahn said the victims explained they were crossing the street when they ran into another group. They tried to turn around and apologize, but it was difficult for them to do so because they did not speak the language.
They then said they saw one of the men whip out bear spray and were subsequently attacked.
Speaking to CTV News, the Winnipeg Police Service confirmed that one man was stabbed and the other was sprayed with bear mace. Officials said the investigation is ongoing.
On Sunday morning, Zahn took the friend to see the other victim in the hospital.
“They said we could come visit him after 9am and we picked up the friend, picked him up from the center and took him to St. Boniface’s emergency room [Hospital]Zahn said.
According to Zahn, the man who was stabbed is awake and receiving treatment.
Zahn said the Ukrainians aren’t sure where they’ll go or what they’ll do now, but they don’t think it’s safe here.
Now the couple is calling on Winnipeggers to act faster to help others and do something about the city’s high crime rate.
“For me, the reason I’m kind of upset is because it’s just embarrassing for our city, you know, and the fact that it happened to these people,” Torres said.
These assaults come on the heels of two violent incidents earlier in the week in The Forks.
Winnipeg police are reporting an assault in the parking lot Monday night that left a father and daughter assaulted.
A few days later, police said two men with stab wounds were found outside The Forks Market on Wednesday. A woman was also treated for minor injuries.
– With files from CTV’s Kayla Rosen.
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