15-year-old faces charges after stabbing spree at Cornwall Centre

Video: A 15-year-old youth is in custody and facing charges following Monday night’s stabbing spree at the Cornwall Centre and the four victims are recovering from their injuries. Kim Smith has the latest developments in this shocking and violent story.

REGINA – Regina Police have charged a 15-year-old youth in connection with the mass stabbing at the Cornwall Centre on Tuesday night.

The stabbings happened just after 6 p.m. on Tuesday. Two Regina police officers who were at the Cornwall Centre as part of their regular downtown patrol alerted all members to a stabbing that had just occurred.

The police officers confronted the suspect, asked him to drop his weapon, and the suspect responded by throwing the knife at the officers. The youth was immediately taken into custody.

EMS transferred three male victims to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries and one male was treated at the mall and was released.

The 15-year-old cannot be named due to his age but he has been charged with three counts of aggravated assault, assault with a weapon and two charges of breach of undertaking.

The youth made his first court appearance on Wednesday morning in youth court.

Charges too lenient?

Witnesses and people on social media have expressed concern regarding the charge of aggravated assault and assault with a weapon saying the charges are not harsh enough.

The head of the justice studies department at the University of Regina explains police and the crown prosecutor need physical evidence or witness testimony to prove intent to kill. which is sometimes difficult.

“You’re attempting to read somebody’s mind and it’s the state’s responsibility to prove guilt,” said Hirsch Greenberg, justice studies department head. “People want to know why this is happening and they say ‘well if someone is attempting to kill somebody it should be attempted murder’. But you have to be able to prove it.”

At this stage, police say they don’t have a motive for the attack.

With files from Kim Smith, Global News