Manitoba

Teen shot by police at 7-Eleven released from hospital, charged and sent to jail

A 16-year-old boy who was shot by police outside of a Winnipeg 7-Eleven store last month has been formally charged with robbery and possession of a weapon.

9 shots can be heard in video of November incident as teen drops to pavement

Yellow tags on the sidewalk outside the 7-Eleven and chalk circles on the store wall mark evidence the morning after a 16-year-old boy was shot by police. (Ezra Belotte-Cousineau/CBC)

A 16-year-old who was shot by police outside a Winnipeg 7-Eleven store last month has been formally charged with robbery and possession of a weapon.

The teen had been in hospital in critical but stable condition since the shooting on Nov. 21. Once he recovered, police laid charges and moved him into jail.

The shooting and events leading up to it are under investigation by the Independent Investigation Unit of Manitoba, which looks into all serious incidents involving police.

As a result, police are not speaking about the shooting, which unfolded around 5:30 p.m. at the 7-Eleven near the corner of Arlington Street and Ellice Avenue.

Officers were called about an armed robbery in progress and surrounded the front of the store.

In videos obtained by CBC News, the teen can be seen inside the store, banging something against the glass doors.

A witness took this video of the shooting:

Winnipeg police shooting at 7-Eleven

5 years ago
Duration 1:15
Nine shots ring out in this video shot by witness Clifford Boulanger. It shows Winnipeg police officers confronting a teen at a 7-Eleven near the corner of Arlington Street and Ellice Avenue.

As police surround the front of the convenience store, he walks out holding something above his head. Witnesses have told CBC it was a machete; police would only call it a weapon. 

What sounds like "Drop the knife!" is shouted as the teen walks along the sidewalk in front of the store, across the path of an officer standing with his service pistol drawn and pointed.

Nine shots can be heard and the teen drops to the pavement.

No information has been released about how many times the teen was struck.

The exterior wall of the 7-Eleven was marked the following morning with several chalk circles surrounding what appeared to be bullet holes.

A witness told CBC News that 7-Eleven's doors are locked and customers need to ask a clerk to buzz them in and out, and that's why the teen was pounding on the glass — attempting to break the window to get out. Once police arrived, the store clerk unlocked the doors.