Random attack of man in southeast Calgary provokes conversation about violent attacks in the city

Calgary police say unprovoked stranger attacks like a violent assault that took place Tuesday night on Penbrooke Meadows are rare but have a chilling effect.

On October 8th, a 34-year-old man waiting at the bus stop on Pensacola Way southeast was repeatedly stabbed and beaten.

Police say it was a random attack.

“You hear about this stuff in big cities like New York, not Calgary! It makes you feel uneasy," said Brandon Beirnes who witnessed  the incident on his street. 

Calgary Police say this type of crime is not common.

“It’s a concern for all Calgarians when they hear that in the news. Many (incidents like these) are targeted, (but) the random stranger attacks are very rare,” said Jordan Nolan of the Calgary police. 

Violent crime up: StatsCan

Statistics Canada says in 2023.. violent crime across the country was up five per cent over the previous year, continuing a decade-long trend.

 “Crime is down, but violent crime is up,” said Dan Jones, chair of justice studies at Norquest College in Edmonton. “Your property crime and your other stuff has been trending downward in a lot of places, but for some reason, violent crime is increasing.” 

Data on random violence doesn’t exist, but the cases just this year are alarming on a national scale:

• A teen sucker-punched getting off a bus in Calgary;
• A man killed and another man’s hand severed in unprovoked attacks in Vancouver;
• A Toronto woman an accused triple murderer with two victims randomly-targeted and
• Manitoba now has introduced a bill to limit machete sales after a number of random knife attacks.

“Fear of crime will increase,” said Mount Royal University justice studies professor Doug King. “My response is, it’s tragic when it does happen but it’s not likely going to happen to most people.”

Calgary Police Service compiled some data for CTV about violent assaults -- the most serious aggravated assaults and choking, suffocation or strangling -- where the victim and attacker were strangers.

In the last five years, there have been between 10 and 62 of these cases a year since 2019.

Keep in mind that includes things like bar fights between strangers, and it is a very small number compared to the roughly 150,000 violent crimes a year CPS investigates.

Police say the search continues for suspects in the Penbrooke Meadows assault. Police are looking for three youth. A witness says the attacker was wearing a mask and jumped into a get-away SUV.

Anyone with information is asked to contact police at 403-266-1234. Those wishing to remain anonymous can contact Crime Stoppers at 10-800-222-8477, online or by downloading the P3 Tips app.