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WINNIPEG — A man considered a person of interest in the homicide of a B.C. truck driver has been shot and killed by officers in Winnipeg. 

Chief Danny Smyth said police responded to a hostage-taking at an apartment on Thursday. 

A man, armed with a knife, had been holding a woman against her will in a hallway when he forced her into the suite with three other people, said Smyth.

Those three — a 33-year-old woman, her three-year-old daughter and a 23-year-old man — later escaped. 

Smyth said officers, concerned for the safety of the woman still inside, then went into the apartment.

"The tactical support team entered the suite. The female hostage was secured and safely taken into care," Smyth said at a Friday news conference.

"The male hostage-taker was shot by police during the rescue and he died at the scene."

The 19-year-old woman was not injured.

Smyth said the 52-year-old man who was shot was known to police. He was not publicly identified.

"He had an extensive criminal record for violence and weapons offences. Police are still investigating a homicide that occurred in the same building earlier in the week," Smyth said.

"The hostage-taker is considered a person of interest for that homicide ... we're in the midst of co-ordinating overlapping investigations."

Police received a missing person report Saturday about a long-distance truck driver, 34-year-old Farah Mohamud of Delta, B.C., who was believed to be in Winnipeg. His abandoned truck was found Tuesday.

Police said his body was discovered at the same apartment building as the hostage-taking. 

The police shooting is now in the hands of the Independent Investigations Unit.

— By Bill Graveland in Calgary

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 29, 2023.

The Canadian Press