A 46-year-old man is facing multiple charges after allegedly chasing a group around downtown Saskatoon with a hatchet.
Greg Keller said he and four others were heading back to work from lunch around 12:45 p.m. on Feb. 28. They passed by Lighthouse Supported Living, where Keller said the man was standing with the hatchet.
“All I remember hearing is ‘Greg, you gotta run,’” Keller said.
He said some people in his group looked at the man, and that’s what “set him off.”
“There was no provocation at all, we were just walking down the street,” he said.
The group scattered as the man began swinging the hatchet and chasing them. Keller said he hid behind the courthouse to call police.
“It was just surreal, like something out of a horror movie,” he said.
Keller said the man ran into the shelter by the time police arrived, where he said police later found him after he’d abandoned his weapon on the ground.
The man is now facing charges of assault with a weapon, carrying a weapon dangerous to the public peace and a breach of a court order.
According to Saskatoon police, no one was hurt during the incident.
As for Kelly, he’s still shaken up.
“It’s a little scary,” he said. “Unsettled, for sure.”