Charges laid in alleged assault with a weapon in Kelowna

A man is facing a number of charges after allegedly assaulting a large group of people with a weapon at the Orchard Park Mall in Kelowna.

RCMP, responding to multiple 911 calls and reports of multiple victims of an assault with a weapon, arrived at the shopping centre just after 4 p.m.

Officers located multiple victims and assisted Emergency Health Services in treating them, and investigators then determined one of the victims had been assaulted by a group of men with a weapon inside the mall.

The intended victim and the suspects were not known to each other prior to the interaction.

The group of men led the scene prior to police arriving, but with the assistance of the Orchard Park mall security, one of the men was located in the vicinity of the mall and arrested without incident.

The RCMP state that a large group of people, including families with children as young as 2 years old, were victims of the assault. The victims all suffered non-life threatening injuries, though some were transported to hospital for further medical treatment.

“The mall was very busy at the time of the incident and we are looking for any witnesses or cellphone videos that may have been taken before, during or after the alleged assault,” said Cst. Solana Paré, Media Relations Officer for the Kelowna Regional RCMP.

“We are asking anyone who witnessed something, or who might have cellphone video footage of the alleged assault to contact us.”

The suspect, a 21-year-old man from Surrey, was release from custody on strict conditions to appear in court at a later date. The investigation is ongoing to identify the other people involved.

The RCMP asks that anyone with information on the assault call the Kelowna detachment at 250-762-3300, or file an anonymous report through Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS).