A 28-year-old man faces a slew of charges after a carjacking in Winnipeg and a high-speed police chase that ended with a multi-vehicle crash in the city's West End.

Police say it all started just after 6 p.m. Thursday near Polo Park Shopping Centre, where a man was being chased by mall security officers after being caught shoplifting.

He ran out of the mall and through the parking lot, carrying a gun, then through the Silver City movie theatre, according to police spokesman Const. Rob Carver.

The man then ran up to a car in front of Marshalls department store, ordered the woman out and stole the vehicle, Carver said.

Officers found the vehicle in the area and started pursuing, reaching speeds in excess of 100 km/h. The chase ended with a crash several blocks later on Goulding Street, just off Portage Avenue.

A number of vehicles were damaged, including two belonging to the Winnipeg Police Service (WPS), but there were no serious injuries, Carver said.

The 28-year-old suspect, who had warrants out for his arrest from prior incidents, faces 16 charges, including resisting arrest, theft and many firearms offences.

'He was trying to grab something'

Angie Millan was reading a book around 6 p.m. when she heard the sound of vehicles colliding outside her front door on Goulding.

An unmarked police SUV was damaged in Thursday's chase of a suspected carjacker in the Polo Park area. (Donna Lee/CBC) "I looked out the window … One of the police officers picked up a gentleman and then threw him on the car and then they had him spread-eagle and they were arresting him," she said.

"I saw four taking him down and after there was probably about 15 or 20 [officers] and then different cars, police cars."

Before police made the arrest, the person they were chasing ran from the vehicle and police followed on foot, according to Millan.

"I saw something black on the ground," she said.

"He was trying to reach for it … He was trying to grab something."

A black object on Winnipeg's Goulding Street, surrounded by police tape. One neighbourhood resident described it as a gun belonging to a male he saw police arrest on Thursday evening. (Brad Lillies/CBC)

'Unbelievable sirens'

John Romanyshyn, who has lived on Goulding Street for 15 years, said the sound of sirens made him go outside on Thursday night.

"Unbelievable sirens. Unbelievable. I thought they were on Portage Avenue, there were that many here," he said.

Romanyshyn said within seconds, a police vehicle drove onto Goulding Street from Portage Avenue, another one drove through a back lane to access Goulding Street and two others closed in on the street from either end.

A witness to Thursday evening's police chase describes the scene. 0:43

"[There were] about another seven or eight cop cars, 17 cops — and I did [count them] because I was like, 'Wow, it's got to be serious here,'" he said.

"I believe because the cop was trying to … stop him from getting any further away and another one went maybe a little too speedy, too anxious or whatever. So, there was a [collision] there."

Carver said a total of 20 WPS vehicles were involved in that call.

"The truck … either pulled in from Portage Avenue or down [a] back lane and parked there and that's where everything happened," Romanyshyn said.

Another chase

About an hour after that incident, police were involved in another pursuit.

They were called to the 100 block of St Anne's Road, in St. Vital, after an armed robbery at a restaurant around 7 p.m.

Officers spotted the suspect vehicle and a chase began, but they aborted it soon afterwards due to the dangerous way the suspect was driving and out of concern for public safety.

The vehicle was again located in the area of Bishop Grandin Boulevard and St. Mary's Road around 8:40 p.m. That time, patrol units and tactical support units were able to block it in and arrest the suspect, a 31-year-old man.

He is charged with robbery, wearing a disguise, fleeing from police, driving dangerously, driving while disqualified, and failing to comply with a probation order.

He was also charged in connection with two earlier robberies, Carver said.

Two more WPS vehicles were damaged in that chase but again, no one was injured, he said.

Extremely busy night

In addition to those two incidents, police were called earlier about a shooting that resulted in the death of a 29-year-old man, George Prieston.

A number of suspects were located in the area when police arrived and two men have been arrested and are facing first-degree murder charges.

"An incredible number of police resources were deployed and utilized last night," said Carver at a news conference Friday at noon.

"It was a huge commitment by our members to resolve these incidents."

Well over 35 police units were tied up in a 90-minute period for those three incidents, he said.

That left about 100 other calls for service waiting until resources could be freed up. Police are still working on many of them today, Carver said.