EDMONTON -- A recent assault outside Rosslyn School is not being treated as a hate crime by Edmonton Police Services (EPS) as their investigation continues.

In an update to media regarding the assault that took place near Rosslyn School in Edmonton, Chief Dale McFee said the EPS hate crimes and violent extremism units have been involved in the investigation but have found no indication the assault resulted because of race.

“At this time, this incident is not believed to a hate-motivated event,” McFee said. “A highly inappropriate slur by one of the other youth was used during this incident. This in itself does not constitute a hate crime.

“With multiple interviews of the parties involved being completed, there is still not sufficient evidence that this event was motivated by hate, bias, or prejudice towards the complainant’s race,” he added. “There is no indication this took place because of somebody’s race.

“As such it does not currently meet the Criminal Code threshold for a hate-motivated crime.”

'CONSENSUAL SCHOOLYARD FIGHT'

McFee said the incident is being treated as a “consensual schoolyard fight.”

“Our investigation currently shows this began as a consensual school yard fight and was part of an ongoing dispute between a group of male youths that reportedly started late last year.”

According to McFee, police have determined that all the children involved in the assault knew one another and that it was not a random event. He added that altercations reportedly occurred with the involved people before.

“Investigators have also confirmed that the majority of the group identify as members of racialized communities which conflicts with the current public narrative and adds to the complexity of this investigation,” he said.

Each of the children involved in the incident were 14 years of age, except for one 12-year-old, McFee said.

“A violent assault took place and investigators are in the process of examining the circumstances of this incident so that the appropriate course of action can be determined for the youths involved,” he said.

“There is no place for this type of violence among youth in our city.”

EPS CHIEF ASKS FOR CALM AS INVESTIGATION CONTINUES

During the availability, McFee also shared a plea for community members to remain calm as police continued their investigation.

“I am asking that we take a breath and calm down,” he said. “As a community we are asking for their calm and patience while investigators complete their work.

“It’s basically getting to the point where (on social media) we are convicting 12 and 14-year-old kids of hate motivated crime.

“As a result of these actions we now have several youth involved in the event or perhaps witnessing the event receiving threats, afraid to leave their homes, afraid to speak because of the actions of some of the adults in our community.”

McFee elaborated that the youths involved in the altercation have been receiving “serious” threats but would give no further details as to the nature or quantity of threats.

“We need to look after all youth involved here because we are dealing with lots of trauma in relation to this.

“With that said, we are investigating assault and our investigation is to get the right answers as quickly as we can.”