Police open fire on stolen truck that later hit house, caused explosion

Winnipeg police officers opened fire on a stolen pickup truck they say was driven toward them as the driver tried to flee, before the truck crashed into a house and caused an explosion Friday night.

Around 6 p.m., officers saw a Ford F250, which had been reported stolen, headed northbound on Home Street, between Portage and St. Matthews avenues in the city's West End.

Police blocked off the single lane of traffic with their cruiser in an attempt to stop the truck, but the driver then reversed and hit another vehicle, according to a Saturday news release from the Winnipeg Police Service.

The truck was then driven toward the police cruiser and the officers, who were at that point standing outside their vehicle. They fired shots at the truck, the police news release said.

A video circulating on social media shows a truck attempting to evade police by swerving around a cruiser blocking traffic on a residential street as officers fired multiple shots at the vehicle.

WATCH | Police fire at truck as it swerves around them:

Police say the truck's driver then drove it onto a boulevard and continued down Home Street toward St. Matthews, where the truck hit a second police vehicle and the driver lost control.

The truck hit a house on Home Street, between St. Matthews and Ellice avenues. The collision started a fire that spread to a large fuel tank located in the back of the pickup truck, which exploded and set both the truck and the house on fire, police said.

Police say two people — a 48-year-old man who was driving the truck and a 29-year-old woman who was a passenger — fled on foot and were arrested nearby.

No injuries were reported in the incident, police said.

A stretch of Home Street from Portage to St. Matthews remained blocked off as of mid-morning Saturday.

Ashely Pott, a resident on Home Street, said her nine-year-old son was playing outside Friday evening, and ran into a neighbour's house when the shots were fired.

She said her son was shaken up after the incident, and she's thankful her neighbour immediately welcomed the boys inside their home and no one was injured.

"I gave her a hug and said, 'thank you so much,' and I almost started crying, because that's my baby, you know?"