A man apparently high on drugs went on a rampage at a Winnipeg business last weekend, setting a fire and then attacking another man — choking him, cutting his throat, and stabbing him numerous times, police said.

The victim was later rushed to hospital in critical condition, while the attacker is charged with attempted murder.

Officers were called to the business — a bathhouse on Notre Dame Avenue — around 6:30 a.m. on Dec. 17 about a man behaving violently.

The man, police were told, was armed with a knife and barricaded in a room with another man. The man with the knife was ordered to drop the weapon, which he did. He was then arrested and sent to hospital in stable condition.

Prior to police arriving, the man with the knife had damaged the room and its contents and started a small fire, but staff were able to safely extinguish it through a broken window.

Police said the man had ingested drugs earlier in the morning then met with the victim at the bath house, where he then took more drugs. The two men did not know one another before the meeting, which was arranged through social media, police said.

The 32-year-old alleged attacker was released from hospital on Dec. 20 and charged with attempted murder, forcible confinement, uttering threats, possession of a weapon, mischief and arson.

Police would not say what type of drug the man had taken, other than it was one that elevate a person's behaviour as opposed to suppress it.