Winnipeg police seek suspects in $300,000 gold jewelry robbery

A tray of 190 gold rings disappeared in minutes inside Gatewest Coin, turning a display case into a six-figure loss and a busy Corydon Avenue storefront into a robbery scene. Winnipeg police are seeking two suspects after the armed holdup in River Heights, where one man carried a handgun and the other a hammer.

Security footage showed the pair entering during business hours with their faces covered. One suspect smashed open a display case and scooped jewelry into a bag while the other stood near the entrance holding what appeared to be a gun. CityNews reported that staff triggered a smoke-cloak system after hitting the panic button, and CBC said a customer walked in during the robbery and was gestured aside by the armed suspect as others ducked or raised their hands.

Police released descriptions of the suspects on June 5, including clothing details that could matter to anyone who saw them before or after the robbery: a black freezer-style jacket with a West trans logo, a blue Adidas hat and a black North Face jacket. Investigators have asked anyone with information to contact the Major Crimes Unit or Crime Stoppers, a reminder that these cases often move beyond the storefront and into the wider resale chain, where a single tip can still interrupt a quick cash-out.

The human cost landed immediately. Jasmine Allen said three staff members were inside the store, including her pregnant sister, who pushed the panic button. No injuries were reported, but the emotional fallout has been severe: some employees no longer want to work at the front of the store, and others have had trouble sleeping and now watch customers with hats or sunglasses more closely than before.

The stolen jewelry was valued at about $300,000 at retail, even though Allen put the melt value at roughly $100,000. That gap is exactly why gold jewelry is such an attractive target: a ring can be worn as adornment, broken down as scrap or melted into bullion with startling speed, which makes pieces with stones, settings and craftsmanship feel precious on the sales floor and liquid once stolen.

Gatewest Coin has been in business since 1972 and says it has more than 60,000 active customers. The company also points to its charitable footprint through the Laing Family Foundation, which said it had donated more than $1,000,000 as of 2023. The robbery now sits in a harsher Winnipeg pattern, after CBC reported a separate 2025 jewelry-business attack in which an owner was shot seven times and thieves took nearly $1 million in goods.