Sawed-off rifle, hunting knife seized from man found hiding in apartment, police say

A 25-year-old man wasfound ina Winnipegapartment building, armed with a rifle and a knife, early Tuesday morning, police say.

Officers were called around 4:45 a.m.about a break-in at a building onEllice Avenue west of Sherbrook Street, in the city's West End.

They found a man wearing a balaclava, hiding behind a doorway. Officers alsofound he had a number of weapons, police said.

Those include:

• A sawed-off .22-calibre rifle.
• A pouch containing .22-calibre ammunition.
• A second pouch containing .17 HMR-calibre ammunition.
• A large hunting knife.

The rifle had been alteredin order to make it easier to carry and conceal, police said.

"The stock's been removed and the barrel's been heavily cut down but for all intents and purposes, the firearm would still fire. It's basically just the metal innards,"saidpolice spokesmanConst. Jay Murray.

I don't think he was there to deliver good news.- Const. Jay Murray

"This is just another example of the non-traditional firearms that our officers encounter on the street.Criminals are finding a better way every day of concealing these weapons and it's a continuing danger for our officers."

The man was wanted onfive different outstanding arrest warrants.

Although police were called about a break-in, they determined that didn't happen, Murray said.

"The initial call was a resident of that buildingcalling in a panicked state that someone was trying to break down their door," he said. "I don't think we ever determined who was at the door, but it certainly wasn't broken down."

Police also haven't determined why the25-year-old man was at the building with so many weapons, "so it leaves a lot of speculation," Murray said.

"But I don't think he was there to deliver good news."

The manhas been charged with 10 weapons-relatedoffences as well as several counts of failure to comply with previous court orders.