Saturday January 4, 2020 ~ LANGFORD [Updated January 6, 2020]
~ West Shore Voice News
The youth who were involved in a late-evening stabbing incident on the grounds of a local elementary school back in June have now been identified by West Shore RCMP. The names of the youth were not released by RCMP.
The identification of youth who participated in the June 26, 2019 assault was assisted by the release of videos and photos by West Shore RCMP just ahead of new year’s, on December 30. Police were successful in their hope for public assistance in the identification of a group of five teens who are visible in the images.
This followed a request on June 28, 2019 by West Shore RCMP for any “residences and businesses on Goldstream Avenue between Peatt Rd and Matson Rd, that are equipped with surveillance cameras, to review their surveillance footage between the hours of 8:00 pm and 11:30 pm on the night of June 26”.
Police said at the time that there were two groups of youths walking on Goldstream Ave between Peatt Rd and Matson Rd that crossed paths between the hours of 8:00 pm and 11:30 pm. Indeed, the surveillance images of that evening showed a group of youth in the 800-block of Goldstream Avenue generally across from Langford City Hall.
“We are pleased to state that the youth depicted in the video have been identified and been in contact with investigators,” said Cst Nancy Saggar, West Shore RCMP Media Relations Officer, in a media release yesterday Friday January 3.
Meanwhile, the West Shore RCMP Serious Crimes Unit says it continues to investigate the report of aggravated assault that took place at the Ruth King Elementary School grounds at 2764 Jacklin Road in Langford.
Police had been called to that location and learned that there had been an altercation involving two groups of youths, leaving one youth hospitalized with knife wounds.
“The Serious Crimes Unit continues their investigation into the aggravated assault,” said Cst Nancy Saggar, West Shore RCMP Media Relations Officer. RCMP File # 2019-11906
City of Langford Councillor Lillian Szpak who chairs the city’s Protective Services Committee said on January 6 that the use of video for perpetrator identification “speaks to the technology of the age”. But she adds: “It’s disturbing that this incident happened in the downtown core and especially in a school ground.”
“We hope it is an isolated incident,” said Councillor Szpak.
Ruth King Elementary is one of several elementary schools in the Sooke School District 62 (SD62), located on a quieter but still heavily travelled section of Jacklin Road in the Langford town centre area.