It was a busy weekend for Victoria police, who responded to numerous calls for assistance, including an alleged sword attack that left a victim seriously injured.
The sword assault took place around 7:30 p.m. in the parking lot of London Drugs at 911 Yates Street, according to police.’
The Victoria Police Department announced that the suspect remains in custody, but chose not to disclose the suspect’s name and did not confirm the weapon used in the attack.
Multiple witnesses said a man was seen chasing another with what appeared to be a sword in a sheath before striking him in the leg.
The injured man stumbled into a store, bleeding heavily from a deep gash just below the knee according to numerous bystanders who took to social media to share their observations of the incident.
“I was paying at the checkout in London Drugs when (a) guy came in yelling for someone to call the police. He kinda stumbled in and almost fell into me,” said one alleged witness.
“Took me a minute to realize he was gushing from the knee pretty bad,” the witness continued, who said it “looked like the suspect in the corner of the parking lot potentially had a sword in a sheath.”
“There was blood everywhere,” another witness said. “He ran into the store yelling for help and collapsed at the checkout.”
In a Sunday media release, the Victoria Police Department described the incident as an “assault with a weapon.”
According to the same media release, the sword attack was just one of four major incidents that took place in Victoria over 12 hours. Police did not comment on whether the incidents were related.
Earlier that evening, just after 6 p.m., another attack occurred in the 600-block of Yates Street. Tyson Schley, owner of Giant Victoria bike shop, was violently assaulted by an allegedly intoxicated man while closing his business for the day.
Following the numerous weekend attacks, Victoria Mayor Marianne Alto has announced she will hold a news conference on Wednesday to address the city’s crime wave.