A witness says what began as a quiet summer evening near Dallas Road in Victoria, B.C., quickly turned into fear and chaos during a violent confrontation near Beacon Hill Park on July 3.
“In a split second, everything can change,” a woman, whose identity is being withheld for her safety, told CTV News.
She said she had gathered with friends near the waterfront on Dallas Road to listen to music and watch the sunset when she noticed a group of roughly 10 to 15 males lingering nearby.
“It was kind of weird,” she said. “They were standing about 20 feet away from us for hours.”
She said things began to shift when she and several friends briefly stepped away from their group and were approached.
The group asked them to go for a walk, she said. When they refused, she heard a “clicking noise.”
“I looked over and he flicked out a knife,” she said. “It wasn’t pointed at us, but it was clearly meant to scare us.”
She said she and her friends ran back to their group, but the other group followed.
“It just felt like tension building,” she said. “We didn’t think too much of it at first.”
But she says the confrontation escalated to physical violence.
“It went from yelling to a fist fight,” she said. “Then he reached into a bag and pulled out a machete.”
“It was a lot of fear,” she said. “A lot of people just ran.”
She says she saw her two friends get injured, including one who suffered multiple deep slashes.
“There was a lot of blood,” she said. “It was really bad.”
Another friend suffered serious wrist injuries, leaving them with little to no movement in the hand and arm.
After the attack, she said she and others briefly chased the suspects until police arrived on scene.
“We didn’t want them to get away before police got there,” she said.
The witness later returned to find her injured friend on the ground as officers provided emergency care before paramedics arrived.
Police say three people were injured in the incident and have since been released from hospital.
Two people have been charged in connection with the incident. Twenty-year-old Hussein Saadedeen faces charges including aggravated assault and two counts of assault with a weapon. A youth, who cannot be identified under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, is also charged with aggravated assault, two counts of assault with a weapon and carrying a concealed weapon.
“Anyone with information who has not yet spoken to investigators is asked to contact the E-Comm non-emergency line at 250-995-7654 ext. 1 and reference file number 26-27379,” Victoria police said in a statement.
The witness said rumours circulating online claiming fatalities are false.
“Nobody passed away,” she said. “People need to stop spreading that.”
Victoria police say the investigation is ongoing.
