WINNIPEG - A 17-year-old boy is facing serious charges in connection to a stabbing spree in Winnipeg's north end on Friday night.

Police responded to a convenience store at about 7:15 p.m., following reports a male had been threatening people in the area.

Three people were stabbed within roughly 30 minutes. The first was a 48-year-old man, who was standing outside of a business.

Police say the suspect threatened the victim with a knife and demanded his property. When the victim refused, he was stabbed once in the upper body.

Two teenage boys were also stabbed, a short time later. The suspect approached the teens, ages 14 and 15, and threatened them a knife, demanding their property. He took an MP3 player out of the hands of the 15-year-old victim, who was then punched several times by the suspect and was stabbed in the upper body. The 14-year-old victim was also assaulted and stabbed in the upper body.

All three stabbing victims were taken to hospital, with non-life threatening injuries.

Winnipeg police Const. Natalie Aitken said the random nature of the assaults are quite troubling.

"These incidents are, quite frankly, the most concerning to police," Aitken said. "The suspect in this case, and all the victims are not known to one another."

Three other victims - a 45-year-old man and two 14-year-old girls - were also allegedly threatened by a male suspect who indicated he had a weapon. In those three cases a weapon was not produce it. The group fled to a nearby store, where they called police. Aitken said due to a strong police response, the suspect was quickly located and arrested.

A 17-year-old male has been charged with three counts of uttering threats, three counts of robbery with a weapon, aggravated assault, disguise with intent, carrying a concealed weapon, possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose, and breaching court order conditions.

jillian.austin@sunmedia.ca