Sunday was a troubling day in downtown Victoria, with multiple violent incidents unfolding, including an alleged sword attack that left one man seriously injured.
The sword assault took place around 7:30 p.m. in the parking lot of London Drugs at 911 Yates Street. Witnesses say a man was seen chasing another with what appeared to be a sword in a sheath before striking him in the leg. The injured man stumbled into the store, bleeding heavily from a deep gash just below the knee.
“There was blood everywhere,” one witness said. “He ran into the store yelling for help and collapsed at the checkout.”
Another person at the scene described seeing the attacker flee toward Moxie’s while police swarmed the area. VicPD officers quickly responded and arrested a male suspect nearby. A weapon was recovered, and the victim was taken to hospital in serious but stable condition.
In a media release, VicPD only described the incident as an “assault with a weapon” and that the suspect remains in custody.
This incident was one of four violent cases VicPD responded to within a 12-hour window on Sunday, each requiring what they described as significant police resources.
Earlier that evening, just after 6 p.m., another attack occurred in the 600-block of Yates Street when Tyson Schley, owner of Giant Victoria bike shop, was violently assaulted by an allegedly intoxicated man while closing up for the day.
Schley says the suspect began kicking the front door of his shop and, after a brief altercation, struck him with a whisky bottle — fracturing Schley’s arm and causing thousands in property damage.
“He charged at me and began to try to land punches,” Schley wrote in a public statement sent to Victoria Buzz. “Shortly into the scuffle he then struck me with a half-full 26oz whisky bottle. I shielded my head, but the bottle shattered on impact with my arm, fracturing it.”
Schley, a new father of two, says he’s now facing weeks of recovery and called on Victoria city council to take bold action to restore public safety downtown.
“My staff and I no longer feel safe. The growing lawlessness downtown is impossible to ignore,” he wrote. “Enough is enough. We need action, not tomorrow, not next year — now.”
See also:
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Police confirmed a male suspect was arrested shortly after the attack and released on conditions. The investigation is ongoing.
The day of violence began at around 9:30 a.m., when Victoria firefighters were called to a building in the 700-block of Queens Avenue after reports of a potential fire. But when crews arrived, a man allegedly armed with a weapon was threatening them and preventing access.
VicPD officers arrived and arrested the armed man and discovered another man inside the building with serious injuries. That man was rushed to hospital, and the case has since been taken over by VicPD’s Major Crime Unit. Investigators have not released further details about how the man was injured.
Later that afternoon, around 1:30 p.m., police responded to a separate case in the 700-block of Courtney Street, where another individual had been seriously injured. After further investigation, police determined this incident was not criminal in nature but did not elaborate any further.
VicPD says the volume and intensity of calls on Sunday placed a heavy demand on resources and praised the quick work of officers and emergency crews in responding to each situation.
Anyone with information about any of the incidents is asked to contact VicPD’s non-emergency line at (250) 995-7654, or anonymously through Greater Victoria Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS.
