Edmonton Police Charge 14 Year Old In Connection With Gay Bashing

On Friday, Edmonton, Alberta police took a 14 year old boy into custody, charged with aggravated assault in connection to an attack on 31 year old Shannon Barry, an openly gay lesbian kicked in the face last Saturday while walking home with four friends. According to Constable Patrick Ruzage, police “confirmed that the incident was random and that the victim was not specifically targeted, “so while the investigation continues, no hate crime charges have yet to be filed. On Tuesday, Barry, in hospital recovering from substantial injuries, including a broken jaw and broken eye socket, said that she had yet to hear from the department, forcing Edmonton Police to concede it committed a series of errors in protocol. Saturday, Chief Mike Boyd said that the responding officer neither finished or filed his report before his shift ended Saturday, and then was off duty for days, meaning no record of the incident was available to officers who could, in theory, have followed up the investigation. Boyd said “I want to offer my apology to the victim and I also want to offer my apology on behalf of the Edmonton Police Service to our wider minority communities here in the city of Edmonton for the response that the victim got on Tuesday when she phoned the Edmonton Police Service, and this apology includes for the original officer not filing the report.” Barry said “I appreciate the apology. Does it still anger me that it was handed poorly? Of course.”