Shooting, stand off net nine year prison sentence

Daniel Larsen had been out of prison just five days when he shot up a Point Douglas house and sparked a 10-hour armed standoff with police that shut down a portion of the Disraeli Freeway.

Larsen, sentenced last week to nine years in prison, believed residents of the Grove Street home had sold fentanyl to his son, court heard.

“The speed with which Mr. Larsen was able to obtain a firearm, formulate a plan and become criminally involved is… horrifying from a public safety standpoint,” Crown attorney Amy Wood told provincial court Judge Malcolm McDonald.

Larsen, 37, pleaded guilty to reckless discharge of a firearm for the June 14, 2025, incident and two related weapons offences.

He has a long criminal record including convictions for robbery, drug crimes and weapon offences.

Larsen was released from prison on June 9, 2025, and almost immediately became the subject of a Canada-wide arrest warrant after he absconded from the halfway house where he had been ordered to reside.

Five days later, Larsen showed up outside a Grove Street home at 5 a.m. with a sawed-off shotgun and fired two shots through a side door and into the kitchen. Three residents in the house were sleeping at the time and the kitchen was unoccupied.

Larsen “was blindly shooting at a solid door,” Wood said. “He had no idea who was behind it… There could have been children in that kitchen. He showed an utter disregard for life and safety.”

Larsen fired a third shot at the house from the middle of the road before fleeing under the Disraeli Bridge.

Responding police officers demanded Larsen drop his weapon. He refused, put the barrel of the shotgun underneath his jaw and told officers: “just f——-g do it… just shoot me.”

Officers tried to negotiate with Larsen, who “continued to act in an erratic and agitated manner” and goaded officers to shoot him, says an agreed statement of facts provided to the court.

Larsen lifted his shirt, revealing he was wearing body armour, and told officers they would have to shoot him in the head.

Eight cruiser units were dispatched to the scene and police blocked vehicle and pedestrian access to the bridge, as well as water access on the Red River for one mile on either side of the bridge.

At various times, Larsen put the muzzle of the shotgun under his chin or in his mouth. At one point he racked the firearm, ejecting a round and stood in a “shooter’s stance.” When officers told him to put the gun down, he pointed it under his chin.

“I don’t know why they didn’t kill me,” Larsen later told a probation officer, according to a pre-sentence report. “I pointed the gun at one of them. I wanted them to shoot me.”

Shortly after 3 p.m., Larsen put the shotgun down and began to walk away when police dropped a bottle of Gatorade in the bushes. When Larsen moved to pick up the bottle, officers fired foam pellets at him, preventing him from returning to the shotgun and took him into custody.

“But for (police officers’) valiant efforts, Mr. Larsen would not be before the court today,” Wood said.

Court heard another of Larsen’s sons had died prior to his release from prison.

“He was in complete crisis and clearly suicidal” at the time of the shooting and standoff, defence lawyer Karl Gowenlock told court. “Ultimately, this is clearly not someone in their right mind at the time.”

dean.pritchard@winnipegfreepress.com