A Saskatoon teenager with an intellectual disability was playing outside a Confederation Park home when he fell victim to an unprovoked attack, according to family.
A woman walked around the side of the Borden Place apartment building, sprayed him in the face with bear spray and took off, the teen’s sister said.
“It was pretty intense,” his sister, Kara-Lee Arcand, told Global News, describing Thursday evening’s attack.
The assailant mumbled something, but the kids couldn’t decipher her words, according to Arcand.
She said her younger brother is 17 years old, but has the cognitive abilities of an eight to 10 year old. It’s part of the reason why he enjoys playing outside with his six- and eight-year-old nephews.
Arcand said her brother and her sons were in the green space in front of the apartment when the teen tripped and fell.
From the nearby cement steps, she heard her brother screaming and ran over to the patch of grass along Confederation Drive. The boy’s face was red, swollen and sore.
Emergency personnel helped flush out his eyes, but the trauma remained the following day.
Saskatoon police stated a 13-year-old girl had also been bear sprayed, but Arcand said her brother was the primary victim.
Officers arrived at the apartment block around 9:40 p.m. Thursday and eventually the identified the suspect. She faces charges of assault with a weapon and possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose.
As of Friday afternoon, police hadn’t found the woman and continued to search for her.
The ordeal has left Arcand feeling angry, especially considering she just moved back to Saskatoon from Kamloops, B.C.
Now she is considering moving again.
“I kind of regret leaving B.C.; I felt like my kids were a lot safer there, and this experience just proved it,” Arcand said.
Anyone with information should contact the Saskatoon Police Service at 306-975-8300 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.