Two youths have been arrested in connection with an alleged assault at the Estevan Comprehensive School (ECS) last week.
The Estevan Police Service (EPS) first reported the assault on Sept. 28, and said they were investigating the incident.
In an interview with the Mercury, Sgt. Evan Handley said the assault occurred in a bathroom. A male youth assaulted another male youth, and a third male youth used a cell phone to record the entire incident. All three are students at the school.
The boy who allegedly committed the assault was arrested the following day, and the youth who recorded the incident was apprehended on Oct. 1.
“It’s a situation where we wanted to make sure we investigated the incident as fully as possible, so sometimes we aren’t able to arrest the day of the incident, but members are able to interview both the suspect and the victim the next day,” said Handley.
A weapon was not used in the assault.
One of the youth suspects is 13 years old, and the other is 14. The victim is 13 years old. Handley believes the three would all be in Grade 9 or 10.
One of the suspects is known to police, Handley said, but does not have a lengthy criminal record.
The names of the boys cannot be released under the Youth Criminal Justice Act. They will appear in court in December.
Lynn Little, the director of education for the South East Cornerstone Public School Division, said schools in the division do encounter situations in which an outside agency has to be brought in, and in this case it was the EPS.
“This doesn’t preclude that the school or system doesn’t provide their own appropriate intervention and consequences, but instead it is additional support,” said Little.
She could not divulge whether the students whether the students were still at the school, or if they had been suspended or expelled due to privacy issues. She also couldn’t comment on whether it was a bullying incident.
Incidents and altercations have happened between students in the past, she said, and they likely always will.
She also commended the staff at the school for the way in which they handled the situation.
