Hitchhiker who allegedly stabbed driver fatally shot by Manitoba RCMP

Ahitchhiker who allegedly stabbedthe driver who picked him up was shot and killed by police officers on Wednesday, Manitoba RCMP say.

Mounties were called around 9 a.m. with a report ofa stabbing off of Highway 16 in Westbourne, about 100 kilometres west of Winnipeg,police said in a news release.

Investigators believe the man who was driving and a female passenger picked up the hitchhiker, who was walking on the highway.

The hitchhiker then reportedly attacked the driver without provocation, stabbing him. The driverwas able to pull over to the side of the road, andthe hitchhiker ran away.

The driver is currently in hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, police said.

Several officers from the detachments in Portage la Prairie, Amaranth and Neepawa immediately responded, alongwith police dog services, the RCMP release said.

Shortly after, police got a tip about a suspicious man attempting to enter vehicles a short distance down the highway, at the junction of Highway 50.

Police found the man and saw he was carrying a knife, RCMP say.

A confrontation ensued and one of the officers shot the man, police said. The release did not provide anyother details onthenature of the confrontation prior to the shooting.

Officers provided first aid until local paramedics arrived, but the manwas pronounced dead at the scene.

Police say noinformation about the man who was shot will bereleased until he is identified and his next of kin are notified.

Manitoba'sIndependent Investigation Unit which is mandated to investigate all serious incidents involving police in the provincehas beennotified of the shooting and is taking over the investigation, while RCMP continue to investigate the stabbing.

More from CBC Manitoba: