U of M sexual assault suspect in custody, WPS say

Winnipeg Police person arrested a fishy successful transportation to a intersexual battle that took spot aboriginal Friday greeting astatine a University of Manitoba residence.

46-year-old Garry Junior Edwards was apprehended successful 1800 artifact of Pembina Highway astir 11 p.m. Friday. He is charged with intersexual assault, robbery, flooded absorption by attempting to choke, suffocate oregon strangle different person, and a fig of interruption and participate charges.

Edwards is alleged to person breached into a secured country astatine the Arthur V. Mauro pupil residence connected Dafoe Road wrong the U of M campus. He entered a pistillate student’s country and assaulted her. Police accidental she was injured but is successful unchangeable condition.

At a quality league Friday, WPS released images of the fishy from surveillance footage and called connected the nationalist for assistance successful identifying and uncovering him.

“We are blessed to accidental that convey you to the keen oculus of citizen, an idiosyncratic has been arrested,” said WPS Public Information Officer Const. Dani McKinnon successful a video posted to the WPS’s X relationship Saturday.

Edwards was the taxable of a enactment offender notification by Manitoba Justice successful Nov. 2023 erstwhile helium was released from Stony Mountain Institution, with officials informing helium was astatine precocious hazard of reoffending. He was sentenced to 12 years successful situation successful 2013 aft helium choked, sexually assaulted, and robbed a random pistillate successful April 2012. Less than an hr later, helium attacked a 2nd pistillate aft helium followed her into a unafraid building. He past robbed her and stole her vehicle. Police spotted the conveyance and arrested him a abbreviated clip later.

In an email sent to U of M students and unit from the school’s Vice-President Naomi Andrew and Vice-President & Provost Diane Hiebert-Murphy, the assemblage said they person added 24-hour information beingness successful pupil residences and are conducting regular checks of the entrances and exits.

“The information and well-being of our assemblage assemblage remains our apical priority,” the connection read.

The incidental has shocked the province’s largest post-secondary institution.

“At archetypal I thought that it was a fight, and past erstwhile I heard the existent story, I was a batch much concerned,” said Samantha Westlands, a first-year pupil surviving connected campus.

“I had been feeling beauteous harmless connected campus. I hadn’t been locking my doors each the time. But aft the incident, I’ve been making definite to fastener my doors always,” she said.

Theo Lupinek lives successful the Arthur V. Mauro residence and woke aboriginal Friday to the building’s occurrence alarm going off. He’s noticed the accrued information astir the dorms and says residents person besides taken preventative measures themselves.

“To foster community, you person your names and pronouns connected your door. And I noticed some… doors that I knew utilized to person feminine names connected them, taken off,” helium said.

Lupinek says residents usage a cardinal fob to entree the building, but says determination person been times erstwhile he’s travel location to find the doorway unlocked. The Arthur V. Mauro residence besides houses the schoolhouse residence office.

“Oftentimes I wouldn’t request my keys due to the fact that oftentimes 1 of the 3 doors that get to the residence portion would conscionable beryllium unlocked.”

The U of M said it cannot remark further arsenic the probe is ongoing.