A 13-year-old and 14-year-old from Portage la Prairie have been charged with multiple offences following several machete attacks in the community.

Police say that they first learned of these teenagers with machetes on October 15, at 4:50 p.m., when they received a report of an assault in the back lane of 1st Street Southwest in Portage. Upon arrival, a 21-year-old man from Long Plain First Nation was located with serious injuries from an edged weapon and transported to hospital.

While officers were responding to that assault, another call was received, according to police. This time, it was about two more victims. One victim was a 15-year-old male walking home. The two youths with the machetes attacked him. They tried to take his personal belongings. The 15-year-old victim was transported to hospital.

As police were investigating this incident, a third call occurred regarding an assault with a machete. A 14-year-old male was attacked around the same time as the other two attacks and had attended the hospital himself, where police were contacted.

Police were able to identify the youths. A 13-year-old male and a 14-year-old male, both from Portage, were arrested.

The 13-year-old is charged with Aggravated Assault, Possession of a Weapon for a Dangerous Purpose, Robbery with an Offensive Weapon, and Assault with a Weapon.

The 14-year-old is charged with Aggravated Assault, Possession of a Weapon for a Dangerous Purpose, Assault with a Weapon, Robbery, Failing to Comply with a Probation Order, and Failing to Comply with a Release Order.

Both suspects remain in custody according to the Portage la Prairie RCMP. 

In response to Canada's Online News Act and Meta (Facebook and Instagram) removing access to local news from their platforms, PortageOnline encourages you to get your news directly from your trusted source by bookmarking this page and downloading the PortageOnline app.