Female transported to hospital after disturbance in Kitchener park

A woman has been sent to hospital with non-life threatening injuries while another individual was sprayed with a noxious substance.

Waterloo regional police sent out a series of tweets on Saturday saying police were “investigating a disturbance in Kitchener at Victoria Park.”

“One female victim has been transported to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. There is no immediate risk to public safety,” said one of the tweets from police.

According to Waterloo Regional Police, a woman was assaulted on Roos Island in Victoria Park around 5:15 a.m.

Roos Island in Kitchener’s Victoria Park pictured on Oct. 15. (Colton Wiens/CTV News Kitchener)

“The injuries were initially believed to be the result of a stabbing, however, it’s since been determined that the injuries were consistent with being struck by a blunt object and sprayed with a noxious substance,” Const. Melissa Quarrie, with the Waterloo Regional Police Service said.

Police said a man also suffered minor injuries during the altercation.

“The victim and the suspects in this incident are known to each other, and police believe that this was a targeted incident,” Const. Quarrie said.

Police said the suspects fled before officers arrived, but there is no threat to public safety.

People living at a camp on the island said they are recovering after the altercation.

“Everyone is well, and we’re doing everything we can to continue living our lives and healing,” said Joseph, a member of the camp.

Joseph said he heard a commotion outside of his tent early in the morning.

“It sounded like there were some things that were being broken,” Joseph said. “It was all quite quick what happened.”

People walking in the park Saturday said they were sad to hear the news, but feel it’s important the camp remains in the park in order to keep the issue of homelessness in the publics eye.

“I don’t feel unsafe. I think my daughter might feel unsafe,” Marianne Whittaker, a park visitor said. “So there’s a bit of knowledge about how to maybe live among people who are struggling and desperate, and those are concerns.”

“I’ve never been or have seen any signs of any violence at all. The only thing I can say is that we should, and have the responsibility of trying to solve this problem,” Vincent Berez, a park visitor said.

The investigation into the assault is still ongoing.

Anyone with information is asked to call police.

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