The Victoria Police Department (VicPD) have confirmed an attack on Pandora Avenue in which a number of people experiencing homelessness were pepper sprayed in what some think was an targeted attack.
Three people were arrested by VicPD officers on Monday, May 27 around 4:30 p.m. after police received reports of a pepper spray attack near a homeless encampment.
“It is still early stages of the investigation and I cannot provide further details at this time or speculate on what precipitated this,” noted a statement from VicPD.
According to Julian Daly, CEO of the Our Place Society which aims to support the Victoria homeless population and assists those living on Pandora, they saw three people start attacking people with pepper spray and threatening them with batons.
He said he thinks it was a targeted attack as they heard the attackers were looking for someone specific.
“This is a good example of how vulnerable people really are [while they live on the street],” said Daly, who also said attacks like this are uncommon, but nonetheless concerning.
They helped wash the spray off of about 10-12 people who were caught in the attacks, and said no one was seriously injured.
Charges against the three have not yet been sworn.
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