'He looked up with rage' woman encourages public to stay aware after attack

After facing a shocking experience, a Manitoba woman is sharing her story of an attack in south Winnipeg 

It was a normal Monday for Rebecca Rempel, running a few errands before picking up her daughters from their dad's house. She was in a store in the St. Vital area when she noticed people were sitting near her car. 

"That made me very uncomfortable and so that's when I made the decision to go back in the store and wait," says Rempel. "I let the person working know that I was very uncomfortable, that I didn't want to go back to my car and I just wanted to wait in the store and feel things out until this left."

When Rempel saw that people were leaving, she went against her instinct and decided to go to her car instead of waiting an extra minute. She says this was because she was late to pick up her daughters at this point.

It was when she was halfway to her vehicle when the man walking away turned around and started sprinting toward Rempel. It had to be a split-second decision about whether to go back into the store or get to her car, Rempel went with the latter.

"I just didn't feel like I had enough time to get back [to the store.]"

To put extra space between her and the man, she tried getting in her car through the passenger side door, however, the man draped himself over the door to prevent her from getting inside.

"At that point, I was wedged between my door and the car, and he reached for my wallet and that's when he looked up with rage."

Rempel tried explaining that she only had $2 in change and the man appeared to be even more angry and moved to reach for something. 

It was the moment of opportunity that Rempel needed, with the man's guard down for a second, she slammed the door shut and locked her vehicle.

She tried to leave but the man stood in front of her car, appearing to hold a sharp object, and blocking her from going forward. There was another way out behind her, so she backed up and fled.

Rempel's phone was dead, so she waited until she was at her daughter's dad's house, approximately 15 minutes after the attack, to call 911.

Since then, Rempel says she's been in and out of a state of shock but is physically unharmed.

Advise to others

Rempel shares that if a situation is giving someone a bad feeling, do not act against it, most of the time the gut feeling is right.

She also suggests that people should purchase an alarm keychain which makes a loud noise to draw attention to the person.

Other safety suggestions include parking near cameras, parking close to the door of the building, having a fully charged phone before leaving home and avoiding being alone.

Her Facebook post was shared more than 5,000 times, with over 400 comments, Rempel hopes by sharing her experience, others can know what to do to stay safe.

Rempel is currently trying out a women's empowerment program at a jiu-jitsu company. This program is to teach women self-defence against moves that are commonly used by perpetrators.

The incident is currently under investigation by the Winnipeg Police Service.