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Family Lawyer Bombed
July 4, 2015 permalink
Winnipeg family lawyer Maria Mitousis has been injured by a bomb blast.
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Bomb blast injures lawyer
Package with explosives sent to firm in a targeted attack: police
A Winnipeg lawyer was seriously injured when she opened a package that was rigged with an explosive device -- a crime police said was a targeted attack.
Maria Mitousis, 38, was in critical condition following Friday morning's bombing inside the Petersen King law office at 252 River Ave. Witnesses described seeing her rushed out of the building, covered in blood, and taken to hospital.
Maria Mitousis, a lawyer with the Petersen King law office, sustained injuries to her neck and stomach when an explosive device detonated at her office."It's not good," her common-law partner, lawyer Barry Gorlick, told the Free Press in a brief phone call before she went into surgery for extensive wounds to her upper body, including her throat and stomach.
The Canadian Press reported Mitousis had lost a hand and was in danger of losing her other hand.
"It's very serious. I've been a cop for nearly 30 years; we don't see a lot of bombings in our city. It's a very unusual event, a very tragic event," Supt. Danny Smyth said.
"It's being investigated as a specific crime at this point. We don't consider this to be a general threat to the public or any other businesses at this time. We have no reason to believe this is an attack on the justice system," he said.
Police provided few details about the explosive device or whether it was mailed or dropped off.
"However it came into her possession, it was triggered inadvertently by the woman," Const. Eric Hofley said.
Several colleagues of Mitousis told the Free Press there were just a couple of lawyers in the building at the time of the blast.
"We don't know if she was the specific target," Smyth said Friday.
Smyth acknowledged the relationship between Mitousis and Gorlick, but refused to connect the bombing to Gorlick, a veteran lawyer who was disbarred this week after admitting to 15 counts of professional misconduct.
The Free Press reported on Gorlick's case in an edition that was published hours before the explosion, detailing how he admitted to a string of offences, including misappropriating huge sums from several clients and botching cases.
Justice sources said there's no doubt Gorlick has made enemies, but he never worked at the law firm where the explosion occurred.
The first report of an explosion came in at around 10:15 a.m., and an officer who was nearby was the first on the scene.
The bombing triggered tumult in the surrounding neighbourhood and downtown and rattled members of the tight-knit legal community.
Residents near the law office were told to stay inside as police searched the area, and the nearby Midtown Bridge was shut down for about five hours.
Workers at the Monk Goodwin law office on the eighth floor at 444 St. Mary Ave. downtown left their building and called police, who blocked off the area for several hours as members of the bomb unit looked for explosives. Mitousis had worked at that firm until last fall.
Police said they found no suspicious packages in the Monk Goodwin law office.
The Law Society of Manitoba sent a notice to lawyers, warning them to "exercise caution when dealing with mail and deliveries." It cited the package that exploded, along with a "suspicious envelope" that was sent to another firm earlier this week.
But police reiterated they didn't believe the bombing to be a threat to the legal community or the public.
"We're treating this right now as a very specific crime, until we learn otherwise," Smyth said.
Hours later, the bomb squad was called in to probe a third incident.
Around 6 p.m., police barricaded a section of Broadway and Hargrave Street as the bomb squad searched another building. Details were not immediately available Friday night.
Kris Dangerfield, CEO of the Law Society of Manitoba called the bombing "highly unusual."
She said there are few reasons a law firm would close temporarily for reasons beyond its control.
"While my immediate concern would be the health and safety of the staff, there is an obligation on lawyers to care for a client's property as a careful and prudent lawyer would.
"In this instance, that would be addressed by ensuring that the premises remain secure during the investigation."
Source: Winnipeg Free Press
