A Winnipeg family was left with the disturbing reminder of an attempted home intruder, after police took more than a day to retrieve a large knife that was left on the family’s porch.
The trouble began around 3:30 a.m. Friday, when Samantha Burland was woken up by the sounds of “heavy breathing” and beeping coming from her porch.
As she and her husband came out into the hall, they saw a man through the glass porch door, attempting to use the key pad lock to get inside.
Burland’s husband quickly moved to bolt the unlocked door. She says the started beating on the door and begged to be let in.
“He was visibly distressed and upset,” Burland told CTV Winnipeg. “He said people were after him and he was in danger – they were going to kill him.”
As Burland was on the phone with 911, her husband let the man know police were on the way.
Burland says the man paced around the porch, and would duck down as if he were hiding from someone, but appeared to be uninjured.
She says the man left and came back twice, all before police arrived. Before leaving for good, she says he took off his jersey and left it on the porch.
Burland says when police arrived shortly before 4 a.m. they took the man’s clothes and told her that they would keep an eye out for him.
Winnipeg police Const. Jay Murray told CTV Winnipeg in an email that a patrol unit was dispatched 17 minutes after the first call was received, and searched the area for the man for half an hour before clearing it. The man was never found.
Murray said that while the man was assigned as an urgent priority, “it is important to note that there was no indication that this male was injured, had attempted to force their way into the residence or had damaged anything.”
Burland says that she thought the disruption was “scary, but over.”
That hope was short lived however. Burland discovered a large knife left beside the door the next morning.
She called 911 again to alert them to the presence of the knife, and was told to cover the weapon and leave it where it was.
Officers told her the knife would be picked up later that day. However, when she got home the knife was still there.
After multiple calls to police, Burland says she was told that picking up the knife was “not a priority,” and that an officer would be by when they could.
With no sign of officers by 9 p.m. that night, they decided to bring the knife inside, fearing that it could be dangerous if left out overnight
“It’s not safe,” Burland said, “I don’t want him coming back to see if it’s still there.”
The knife was eventually picked up by police at Burland’s home late Saturday afternoon.
“We strive to attend every call as quickly as we can,” Const. Murray wrote. “The reality is we are bound by a limited number of resources.”
Burland says that she knows the police are doing their best, but is unhappy with the response the situation received.
“I’m disappointed,” Burland said. “I understand that the police are understaffed and overworked, but I don’t think it should be on me to pick up the weapon and hand it in to them.”
With a report from CTV Winnipeg’s Beth Macdonell
