Swarming victim terrified

The 13-year-old girl who was brutally beaten by a pack of youth in Kelowna last Friday is starting to heal from the physical injuries, though her emotional wounds will take much longer to work through, her father says.

“She’s a tough son of a gun, and her mom is doing a great job making sure she gets everything she needs,” the teen's father said Wednesday ahead of a police press conference announcing that three of five of the accused assailants were arrested.

He said, however, she’s leaving Kelowna because she can’t imagine even being outside, walking around the city she called home for the last three years without being terrified about what's to come.

"You hear about this stuff on the news from different provinces and in the United States,” he said. “But since this has gone out, I’ve had so many texts saying ‘I’m so sorry this happened to my daughter here, too.’”

Parents of young people are sending videos to him, depicting attacks similar to what his daughter suffered, and he said it’s been shocking to not only see the incidents play out but also hear what happened afterwards.

Multiple parents who have reached out have also warned him the bullying carries on well after an attack. Even Amanda Todd’s mother reached out to him to offer her condolences for what the family is going through.

"Kids play with toys, kids don’t premeditate, swarm and kick the f*** out of another kid,” he said.

“I have concerns for every kid in this city. This city has to be safe, I’m sick of kids being beaten.”

He's taken some approaches in working through this situation that officials have tried to dissuade him from. He attended the school where some of the accused assailants are believed to have gone. He was asked to leave. He also showed up at a press conference on Wednesday and was asked to leave.

Ultimately, he said he just wants the city to be safer.

While police did not confirm that there has been a rise in these types of attacks, Statistics Canada data does indicate a shift among crimes committed by youth.

According to Statistics Canada data, in 2019, the total number of youth charged of a criminal offence in Kelowna was 97, in 2020 there were 98 youth were charged of a crime, in 2021 there were 76 youth charged, in 2022 there were 60 youth charged and in 2023 there were 136 youth charged.

Sgt. Judith Bertrand said it may be time for a conversation about what to do when faced with a similar situation to what the 30-or-so youth who gathered at Gyro Park last Friday night were faced with last weekend.

"I think it's important to have our conversations with our children about what to do when faced with a situation like this, and how to not stand and be a bystander and stand up for people,” Bertrand said.

She also said to simply walk away before a situation like that gains steam.

“Remove yourself from that situation and call someone right away,” she said.

"Call the police, call an adult, call a safe person. Get yourself away from the situation and get other people help.”

Bertrand also asked that people stop sharing the video of the beating, to avoid further victimization.

For their part, RCMP are working to educate youth and to provide further support services, though they said more than two RCMP youth liaison officers would be helpful.