West Vancouver police say a teen will be left with permanent injuries following an assault with a weapon in Ambleside Park Saturday evening.
Now they are hoping witnesses will come forward and help in the investigation.
Police received 911 calls around 6:15 p.m. when witnesses saw an altercation break out between young people just east of the skate park.
“As you can imagine, there were lots of people on the beach,” said Const. Kevin Goodmurphy, West Vancouver police spokesman. “A weapon was used in the offence and the victim did suffer quite significant, serious injuries as a result of this and was treated at scene before they were transported to the hospital.”
Very quickly, officers found four suspects in the park and arrested them. They spent the night in jail before being released pending further investigation. The four people arrested range in age from 17 to 23.
No one involved in the assault lives on the North Shore.
Goodmurphy could not say what the weapon was or what the injuries were – but he said the teen spent the night in hospital and has since been released to recover at home.
Now investigators are asking witnesses who saw what happened or possibly recorded video of the assault to come forward.
“Charges are definitely being considered in this. We just need to put all the information and evidence together as best we can,” he said.
There’s no good time for a serious assault to happen but Goodmurphy said the timing was particularly unfortunate.
“The worst part of this is that it happened over a Mother's Day weekend and I know for a fact a mother had to spend time with her 17-year-old son in the hospital with life-altering injuries, significant enough that this person will likely have subsequent medical follow-up visits to deal with the injuries,” he said.
Anyone with information is asked to contact investigators at 604-925-7300 and reference police file number 20-4833. If you wish to remain anonymous, call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or visit solvecrime.ca.
