Teen attacked on way to school
15-year-old girl says man and woman assaulted her on the way to St. Pat's; struck her with metal object
Kirsten Fenn
Northern News Services
Friday, May 12, 2017
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
A 15-year-old girl is calling for help locating two strangers who she said attacked her with a metal object during her walk to school Monday morning.
A 15-year-old girl had to get three stitches on her forehead after a woman attacked her with a metal object, she said.
The victim said she was knocked to the ground by a man and woman in a back alley near St. Pat's High School, before the woman attacked her with what she said was a metal object. |
The girl, who asked not to be named, was sent to hospital to get three stitches for a gash on her forehand after the attack.
She said the incident happened while she was walking through an alleyway between 46 Street and 47 Street near 51 Avenue.
The girl was listening to music through her headphones when she heard a man and woman screaming curse words in her direction, from somewhere behind her.
The next thing she knew, the pair had knocked her to the ground while she wasn't looking, she said.
She quickly picked herself up off the ground, which is when the woman began hitting her three or four times with what she said was a metal object.
"I was pretty much already running," she said, explaining she took off to her boyfriend's house as fast as she could after the woman attacked her.
"I didn't really want to tell my mom anything. I was actually kind of scared," the girl added.
"I didn't want to tell her I'd been hurt by someone else I don't even know and they're older."
The girl described the man and woman as being in their mid- to late-20s.
She said the man was dressed in dark glasses, a black snapback, black jeans and a black sweater.
The woman was wearing a black sweater that had red on the underside of the sleeves, she said.
After the girl arrived at her boyfriend's house, she said he pleaded with her to call the RCMP, but she was too scared.
So the pair tried to fix up the marks on her face with bandages and she went back to school.
But teachers quickly began questioning what happened to her when she arrived, she said, and called the RCMP and her mother.
RCMP soon arrived and asked her questions about the incident before she went to the hospital to have her face stitched up, the girl said.
According to spokesperson Marie York-Condon, Yellowknife RCMP are investigating the incident and have a description of the two suspects.
Yellowknifer also asked why RCMP initially did not issue a public advisory seeking help finding the suspects, to which York-Condon replied:
"This is an isolated incident and public safety is not at risk."
Less than an hour after the e-mail exchange with Yellowknifer on Thursday, York-Condon issued a news release seeking public assistance finding the two suspects in the assault.
She then explained RCMP know the incident is an isolated case because "there was one report received."
She could not clarify whether this meant the incident was random or not but said police patrols have increased in the area.
"I still get shakes here and there just thinking about it," the girl said of the incident, adding she has been having trouble concentrating at school all week and now walks to and from school with a friend or her boyfriend.
The girl said she walks with her boyfriend to school most mornings but happened to be walking alone Monday.
Her mother told Yellowknifer she couldn't believe someone would attack a girl on her way to school. Yellowknifer is not naming the mother to protect the identity of the girl.
"I was in shock and I was really upset," she said, adding she no longer feels safe letting her daughter walk alone around town.
"I'm just so worried about her all the time now."
Another relative of the girl said she is concerned no one is taking responsibility for social problems in the city.
The girl said she thought the man and woman were intoxicated, although she does not know for sure and said she wasn't close enough to smell alcohol on them or not.
The cousin added she was shocked to hear several vehicles had passed by the girl as she was being attacked but no one stopped.
As for whether the girl feels safe: "Not really," she said, "because it could have been worse."
Anyone who witnessed the incident is asked to call Yellowknife RCMP at 867-669-1111 or report anonymously through CrimeStoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
