UPDATE: Okotoks throat-cut assault ‘did not take place as originally reported’: RCMP
An Okotoks family is in shock after their 16-year-old daughter was assaulted Saturday afternoon.
At around noon on Saturday, RCMP said a man assaulted a girl living at a home in the Cimarron Vista area in Okotoks.
“She is coping. She is really sore and she’s in shock,” victim’s mother Stacey Bond said.
Bond said her 16-year-old daughter was letting the dog out the back door when she was approached by the man.
It’s believed the man was trying to break into the house. Bond said there was a struggle and the man put a knife to her daughter’s throat.
“She was taken to the Alberta Children’s Hospital just to get her wounds checked and her mental state. She has five stitches to her throat and some other injuries,” her mother said.
The incident has left neighbours in the Okotoks community concerned for their own safety.
“I was shocked actually because it’s a very quiet neighbourhood,” Angela Ridsdale said.
“Although we did put in a security system for our own safety but I would never expect something like this to happen in our neighbourhood.”
Tanis Dorscht has lived on the street in Cimarron for seven years and has never had any criminal activity at her home.
“I was shocked. You always think it’s not going to happen in your neighbourhood. I was just shocked that it happened. Especially in the middle of the day,” Dorscht said.
The RCMP continue to investigate and police are asking anyone who may have information regarding this attack to call the Okotoks RCMP.
The suspect is being described as a man in his mid 20’s, with blonde hair wearing a red coat and jeans.
The victim’s family is being helped by RCMP victim services.
“We are a ball of emotions. We are still trying to process what happened to our daughter. We have four children so we feel very violated. We are trying to help the RCMP as best we can,” Bond said.
“This has affected our whole family.”