ManitobaThe RCMP officer who was seriously injured last week when she crashed her cruiser to prevent the escape of the suspect in the mass stabbing in a Hollow Water First Nation says the fatal incident that rocked the southeastern Manitoba community will stay with her forever.’I am hopeful … we will all be able to heal in our own time’: Cpl. Brianne BartmanovichCpl. Brianne Bartmanovich was the officer who collided with a stolen vehicle driven by Tyrone Simard, 26, a suspect fleeing from a mass stabbing in Hollow Water First Nation on Sept. 4, 2025. (Royal Canadian Mounted Police in Manitoba/Facebook)The RCMP officer who was seriously injured last week when she crashed her cruiser to prevent the escape of the suspect in the mass stabbing in a Hollow Water First Nation says the fatal incident that rocked the southeastern Manitoba community will stay with her forever.Cpl. Brianne Bartmanovich was the officer in an RCMP cruiser that crashed with Tyrone Simard, 26, who was driving a stolen vehicle, fleeing from Hollow Water, a community roughly 160 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg, after stabbing eight people on Sept. 4, Mounties said on Friday. “My thoughts are with the victims of this tragedy and with all who are grieving the loss of such a young woman,” Bartmanovich said in a statement shared on her behalf by police on social media. “This incident will stay with me forever,” she said. “I am hopeful that, together, we will all be able to heal in our own time.”Marina Simard, Tyrone’s sister, died from her injuries after being stabbed at a Hollow Water home, one of two scenes in the community where Mounties found seven other injured community members, ranging in age from 18 to 60.Bartmanovich collided with Simard on Highway 304 near Black River First Nation. RCMP say Simard died at the scene of the crash, while Bartmanovich, who was responding to the attacks in Hollow Water, was seriously injured and rushed to hospital. “I am doing well and I know that I’ll be OK,” Bartmanovich said. An RCMP cruiser sits in the ditch after colliding with another vehicle on Provincial Road 304 near Black River First Nation. RCMP Cpl. Brianne Bartmanovich was seriously injured during the crash but she is expected to make a full recovery. (Jeff Stapleton/CBC)In her statement the Mountie expressed her gratitude to emergency medical personnel and the RCMP officers who helped her after the collision. She also thanked the staff at Winnipeg’s Health Sciences Centre who look after her care.”I am sincerely and forever grateful,” Bartmanovich said.Bartmanovich has been working at the RCMP Powerview detachment serving Hollow Water over the last seven years according to her statement. Mounties told CBC last week they are not permanently stationed in the First Nation, but 20 members from the Powerview RCMP, located roughly 70 kilometres to the south of Hollow Water, oversee policing in the community and seven others in southeast Manitoba.Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew hailed Bartmanovich as a hero who “stopped a man on a rampage,” thanking her on behalf of the province for her actions at a news conference last week. The union representing RCMP officers in Manitoba has also commended Bartmanovich for holding her ground and choosing to stop the suspect when she could have swerved off the road to avoid the crash. Manitoba’s police watchdog, the Independent Investigation Unit of Manitoba responsible for investigating all serious incidents involving police officers, launched an investigation into the crash last week.RCMP say Bartmanovich has requested privacy during her recovery.ABOUT THE AUTHORSantiago Arias Orozco is a journalist with CBC Manitoba currently based in Winnipeg. He previously worked for CBC Toronto and the Toronto Star. You can reach him at santiago.arias.orozco@cbc.ca.
Mountie who stopped Hollow Water mass stabbing suspect says tragedy will stay with her forever
