SASKATOON – Toronto-based Cineplex Entertainment has increased security at one of its Saskatoon locations. Last month, a man was stabbed multiple times at the theatre.
“We have added additional security to the building to reassure our guests,” said Pat Marshall, vice-president of communications and investor relations for Cineplex, in a statement to Global News.
“The safety and security of our guests and our staff are our number one priority.”
Saskatoon businessman Kelly Lutz was attacked outside the Scotiabank Theatre Saskatoon and VIP on Feb. 13. He suffered five stab wounds, but didn’t need surgery or sustain any permanent damage.
“It was, what I believe, a fully random attack by a deranged individual but again there’s circumstances that happen and if we could do anything as a community or as a downtown to be able to minimize it from happening, I’m all for that,” Lutz told Global News several weeks after his attack.
Watch below: A man who was stabbed outside a movie theatre in downtown Saskatoon on Feb. 13 speaks out about the attack
Marshall added in the statement that Cineplex is currently working with “the City of Saskatoon, Saskatoon police, The Lighthouse and The Downtown Partnership to see what we can do collectively to address the public’s concern with the downtown area.”
“I think anytime you can have increased security or presence in an area that helps to make people feel safer,” said Brent Penner, executive director of The Downtown Partnership.
“I think the best way to make an area safe is people continue to frequent an area, come down and take in all the great things that downtown has to offer.”
Penner said the parties had been in contact with each other before the attack on Lutz and have continued to communicate since then.
“Downtown Saskatoon is safe; there might be some perceptions that go otherwise, but all in all we’re working on a good situation and just trying to make that better.”
Representatives from the Lighthouse Supported Living, an emergency shelter and affordable housing provider, declined an interview request from Global News. The organization is located right across the street from the theatre where the attack took place and Lutz said he later found out the alleged perpetrator had stayed there.
“That particular individual does not represent the vast majority of the people that we serve but we do need to work together to look at services and how we can improve those and what protocols and procedures we can put in place to ensure safety for everyone,” said DeeAnn Mercier, director of communications for The Lighthouse, in a past interview with Global News.
A 40-year-old man has been charged in the stabbing.
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