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Five Winnipeg police officers are off work and being questioned in connection with the shooting of a 24-year-old man on Friday.

Deputy police chief Danny Smyth said while 25 officers were at a grassy field at Kenaston Boulevard and Grant Avenue boxing in the car driven by Mark DiCesare, so far five officers who were "directly involved" are the focus of the probe by the Independent Investigation Unit of Manitoba.

"They were involved in lethal force," he said today during a news conference.

Smyth said as the IIU investigation continues more officers could be found to be directly involved.

Smyth said there are currently 19 police cruisers guarding the scene while forensic officers gather evidence.

Smyth would not say how many shots were fired in total or whether a gun was seen by officers before or during the confrontation because it is part of the IIU investigation.

He said the five officers would not be returning to work until after they had been ruled fit by a psychologist.

Smyth said the incident began at about 12:20 p.m., when a police officer spotted DiCesare exhibiting "erratic behaviour" while driving his car.

He said a chase began at Waverley Street and Taylor Avenue until culminating at Kapyong Barracks.

Smyth said officers engaged DiCesare for about 20 minutes.

"It ended when Mr. DiCesare took action and officers responded with lethal force."

Justice sources told the Free Press DiCesare, who was the lone occupant, had been seen waving a gun out the window of the car during a lengthy chase. DiCesare was eventually forced off Kenaston onto a vacant grassy field on the northwest corner of the busy intersection.

WAYNE GLOWACKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS The scene at Grant and Kenaston, where witnesses say police were involved in a shooting.

'Unfortunately, they shot him'

"He was waving the gun out the window, so everyone could see he had one," a police source said.

The subsequent standoff attracted several witnesses.

Meghan Duffy was heading south on Kenaston when she and her aunt saw several cruisers chasing a white sedan through the field near Lipsett Hall. She shot video with her phone camera.

"We were leaving Polo Park and saw a dozen police cars drive past us," Duffy said in a phone interview. "They were driving on the boulevard going fast. You don't see that very often.

INSTAGRAM Mark DiCesare.

"When we got on Kenaston, we saw all these (police) cars and they were racing behind us. That's when we saw the white Audi beside us swerve onto the boulevard and onto the field of the army barracks. Then all the police started racing around in a circle around him and got him out.

"It was scary. The way police were driving, you knew something was really wrong," she said. "We didn't hear (gunshots). From what it looked like, he was smashing into the police cars."

Another witness, who asked his name not be used, was eating lunch at Original Joe's Restaurant and Bar at 530 Kenaston Blvd. when he saw a white car speeding north on Kenaston, run over a spike belt and veer into a field.

More than a dozen police vehicles surrounded the vehicle and waited about 30 minutes before the suspect got out of his car and appeared to have his hands raised. The witness said he thought the man later went back inside his car and then re-emerged. But something had changed.

"The way he was pacing back and forth, he looked, I would say, aggressive and erratic," the witness said. "Suddenly, we saw lots of puffs of smoke. Unfortunately, they shot him. I think they tried to give this guy every opportunity they could."

DAVID LIPNOWSKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Police cars remain on the scene as officers collect evidence.

'This is the worst-case scenario'

At an earlier news conference at the scene on Friday, police spokesman Const. Jason Michalyshen stressed the high number of police units responding to the incident was indicative of the urgency of the situation, based on information received by the department.

"The appropriate level of resources, police units, were dispatched and involved," he said. "We were obviously responding to a situation where we had significant concern.

"Officers were presented with an extreme situation," Michalyshen added. "This is the worst-case scenario. No officer wakes up in the morning and wants to be involved in such an event. But there is always that possibility."

No officers were hurt.

The focus now is what led to the shooting, Michalyshen said. "This is an incident in its infancy. It's high-profile, complex and we are in the early stages," he said.

Bob Freedman, the former CEO of the Jewish Federation of Winnipeg, was briefed on the incident by Curtis Martin, the building manager of the Asper Jewish Community Campus, who had been speaking with police.

Freedman said he was told at one point the man and the car police were trying to stop had turned off Kenaston and was driving west on Willow Avenue, which ends at Doncaster Street, and the front doors of the Rady fitness centre and Jewish campus.

Freedman said a police vehicle had set up a barricade there.

"But he managed to get around it and went onto Kenaston."

Prior to speaking with Martin, Freedman had been concerned the campus might have been the man's target. But after learning the police pursuit began in the West End, he was less concerned.

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca

randy.turner@freepress.mb.ca

— with files from Mike McIntyre and Gordon Sinclair Jr.

Kevin Rollason

Reporter Kevin Rollason is one of the more versatile reporters at the Winnipeg Free Press. Whether it is covering city hall, the law courts, or general reporting, Rollason can be counted on to not only answer the 5 Ws — Who, What, When, Where and Why — but to do it in an interesting and accessible way for readers. Read full biography