Group of friends stunned, say they saw police officers punch man lying on ground

A group of friends arestunned after watching who they believe were two police officers repeatedly puncha man who was lying on the ground.

Alex Braun, 23, and Sarah Struthers, 24, say paramedics then moved in and began performing CPR on the man before putting him on a stretcher and into an ambulance.

"I was really in shock. I've seen videos of this almost exact sort of police violence [but] to see it happen in front of me was really shocking," said Braun, who pulled out his phone and began recording the incident, which happened Sunday night on Broadway near Sherbrook Street.

Braun said he and four friends, including Struthers, were walking south on Sherbrook when they sawa man lyingon the pavement with a bicycle next to him. A fire truck arrived and paramedics began giving the man medical attention.

Then things got strange, Braun said. Braun and Struthers say they sawpeople they believe were police officers grabanother man near the scene and slamhimagainst acruiser beforeand tacklinghim to theground.

Police say aman went into medical distress and died after being taken into custody at that same location and time. The police service issued a news release on Monday saying officers were called therejust before 11 p.m. about a man acting erratically andin distress, and running into traffic.

He was rushed to hospital in critical condition where he was later pronounced dead.

WARNING: This video contains graphic content.

WATCH | Witnesses record officers punching man on ground:

Video shows man pinned to ground by police

1 year ago

Duration 1:01

Warning: This video contains graphic content. A video submitted to CBC News shows a man on the ground, with police officers pinning him down, in Winnipeg's Sherbrook Street and Broadway Avenue intersection. It's unclear whether this is the same person who later died in hospital after being taken into custody in the same area.

Police wouldnot say if the man who died was the same one Braun recorded being beaten. They say there were two incidents in the area.

"We cannot confirm whether this video is of the incident we put out," a police spokesperson said. "There was one other incident it was a medical. No one was taken into custody."

No otherinformation has been released by police.The Independent Investigation Unit of Manitoba has been notified and is now investigating the death.

The eastbound lanes of Broadway at Sherbrookwere blocked by police vehicles from Sunday night until just before noon on Monday.

Filming the incident

Braun said he recorded the incident after seeing the man being pinned to the ground.

"[They] started kneeling on him and punching him from both sides in the head and torso," Braun said, and that's when he started filming.

For about 30 secondsto a minute, Braun said the man's legs were flailing in response to the beating. Then his limbs stopped moving.

Struthers said they yelled "stop" at one point but their friends shushed them.

"I was really scared," Struthers said."The man who they were holding down was not fighting back at all, so we were all watching in shock."

More police cars pulled up and blocked the view so Braun and friends crossed to the south side of Broadway to keep watching.

The beating had stopped but officers were still kneeling on the man, while others stood around, he said.

Two ambulances then showed up, one for the man originally on the ground near the bike and one for the man who has been pinned to the ground.Struthers said paramedics used flashlights to check the eyes of the man who had been beaten.

He was then loaded onto a stretcher as one paramedic did chest compressions. The man was put into an ambulance, whichremained parkedfor a while, the witnesses said.

An officer approached the group to ask if they had seen anything happen in the area.Braun said the groupasked if the man was OK, but theofficer didn't answer.

When they also asked why the ambulance was still parked, the officer said the paramedics are professionals and know what they're doing, according to Struthers.

The friends say the entire incident left them rattled.

Group of friends stunned, say they saw police officers punch man lying on ground

1 year ago

Duration 2:22

A group of friends are stunned after watching who they believe were two police officers repeatedly punch a man who was lying on the ground at Sherbrook Street and Broadway Avenue Sunday night.