Winnipeg man says he's traumatized after police mistakenly launched stun grenades into condo

Gavin Axelrod · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 21, 2025 6:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 10 minutes ago

A Winnipeg antheral says he's been traumatized after explosive devices — which helium believes were stun grenades — were mistakenly launched into his condo during a constabulary operation.

Saeid Ghavami says helium was connected the telephone with a person astir 9 a.m. connected Jan. 31 erstwhile helium abruptly heard "two oregon 3 explosions." 

"The detonation was truthful large and horrible that my person thought that it was an earthquake," helium said. 

Ghavami says constabulary told him a mistake led to what helium thinks were stun grenades being launched oregon thrown into his fourth-floor condo.

While the Winnipeg Police Service has apologized to Ghavami, helium said a deficiency of further followup and effect has near him stressed and angry. 

"Since what has happened to me, honestly, I person mislaid my anticipation and my assurance [in] police," helium said.

After the explosions successful his condo, "I decided to spell retired due to the fact that determination [was] immoderate fume inside the building, and the sound was truthful large that it affects my hearing," helium said.

He found police extracurricular the building, who said astatine the clip they couldn't reply immoderate questions astir what was going on, citing a "special operation," said Ghavami.

About a fractional hr later, helium and his woman — who wasn't location erstwhile the incidental happened — went backmost into their suite, wherever they recovered their location littered with glass, surviving room window shattered and planters destroyed. 

While they were trying to marque consciousness of what had happened, an serviceman came to their doorway and told him they had "made a mistake," and explained they were trying "to drawback a large cause trader that they had been monitoring for galore months," said Ghavami.

"They tried to marque their mistake successful a mode that they explained to us, 'Yes, we did you a favour and [caught] a large cause trader that's unsafe for society,'" helium said.

Ghavami also shared photos of his chamber pursuing the incidental showing pieces of solid connected the floor and bed, from a breached window. 

He and his woman hadn't seen that harm yet erstwhile they archetypal returned to the unit, but helium said the officers "knew our different country has been affected, we didn't spell there, but they knew that." 

A short video posted to societal media connected Jan. 31, labelled "Pembina Hwy.," shows 2 constabulary officers rappelling down the extracurricular of a gangly building. Ghavami told CBC the video shows his gathering connected the time of the constabulary incident.

The Winnipeg Police Service said it wouldn't comment connected the video, but that it is alert of the incident.

In a connection to CBC, the constabulary work said it was executing a hunt warrant astatine the time.

The work executes hundreds of hunt warrants each year, "and an lawsuit specified arsenic this is exceedingly rare," but "a afloat reappraisal has been undertaken" to forestall aboriginal incidents, the constabulary service's connection said.

Hearing affected by large bangs, antheral says

Ghavami says constabulary met with him and his woman a fewer days later, and an serviceman promised to travel up with much information.

He and his woman emailed the serviceman connected Feb. 19 and again connected March 12 respectively, but got nary reply until Wednesday, aft CBC News reached retired to constabulary aggregate times, said Ghavami.

The serviceman apologized successful the email for not responding earlier and said they look guardant to "work[ing] unneurotic to bring this incidental to a satisfactory resolution."

Ian Scott, who utilized to caput Ontario's constabulary watchdog, the Special Investigations Unit, said constabulary tin marque mistakes, but uncovering a solution could beryllium amended than dealing with immoderate imaginable ineligible action. 

"They mightiness adjacent say, 'Look, we're truly sorry, we're prepared to wage for each of the harm to the flat and get progressive with fixing the model and immoderate harm happened wrong the apartment,'" he said. 

Scott besides underscored the traumatic quality of the incident, adding stun grenades could "have a precise precocious decibel level — 140 to 170 decibels tin origin imperishable proceeding loss" if idiosyncratic is adjacent capable to them. 

"There tin beryllium superior wounded and wounded and harm that tin travel retired of the usage of these stun grenades," helium said.

Ghavami said since the incident, he's had trouble sleeping and believes his proceeding was impacted.

He besides had to instrumentality 10 days off from his enactment arsenic an subordinate prof astatine the University of Manitoba, affecting his probe and enactment with students.

Police arranged for Ghavami's surviving country model to beryllium boarded up the time of the incidental and a damaged bedroom model was also sealed. Some of his furniture was besides taken by his security company after it was deemed unsafe, helium said.

Going back and distant with the insurer over covering expenses truthful they tin determination retired while repair enactment is being done has besides added other stress, said Ghavami.

"We privation to get backmost to a mean life, which means a lot," helium said. "We haven't had a mean beingness for much than 45 days, and I don't cognize however agelong it volition take."