Victoria Park closed as fireworks shot at officers, children on Canada Day
Posted Jul 2, 2024 06:25:41 AM.
Last Updated Jul 2, 2024 05:03:32 PM.
There’s been more fireworks trouble in Kitchener’s Victoria Park over a long weekend.
Waterloo Regional Police shut down the park once again due to reports of fireworks shot at crowds of people, including officers and children.
Police said in one case, a firework was set off under a baby stroller, reportedly leading to a large group fight. The baby was not physically injured.
Oleoresin Capsicum (pepper) spray had to be used to disperse the crowd.
The calls to police came in around 8:50 p.m., with reports of a, “large group of youth who had gathered in Victoria Park and were setting off fireworks into crowds of people.”
WRPS Police Chief Mark Crowell told The Mike Farwell Show that the events in the park lead to really concerning behaviour.
“Ultimately there was a fight that broke out between a group of people,” said Crowell. “Officers and bylaw were dispersed in the crowd, a male youth was charged. There was also a robbery in the park involving a handgun over the course of a couple of hours,” he said. “This was a lot for our teams to manage. We had to redeploy our teams from Cambridge and Waterloo to deal with that.”
As far as charges are concerned, a 17-year-old male has been charged with assaulting a police officer.
Numerous charges for drinking alcohol in a public place were also laid.
It’s even been reported that Waterloo councillor Julie Wright was on her way home with her family after watching the drone show in Waterloo Park for Canada Day when multiple fireworks were shot at her, one hitting her in the head.
The closure echoes the Victoria Day chaos, which saw numerous people and buildings shot at with fireworks.
In that case, a 14-year-old was charged with assault and possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose.
It wasn’t just fireworks calls regional police were dealing with on Monday night. Officers said there were also reports of an armed robbery with a handgun in Victoria Park.
Officials are also looking into what they believe to be a fake call, that indicated a mass shooting would take place in the Kitchener park. Again, that is believed to be a swatting call at this point.
“We were on-guard responding to that ensuring public safety for that,” said Crowell. “We’re disappointed. We’re making best efforts to be prepared, to be visible, to be responsive. This is typically young people making really bad, dangerous decisions and they are leading to dangerous outcomes.”
Crowell added that it was a joint decision between bylaw enforcement, WRPS and the city to close down the park.
“We’re working with the city and bylaw and we were requested by bylaw to assist with that,” said Crowell. “There’s an immediate notification to leadership and bringing in resources to make it happen. 99 per cent of people are compliant, those who are there enjoying the park with themselves or their families are happy to oblige. It’s those that are engaged in disruptive behaviour that are non-compliant. We’ve had people refusing, evasive, just not co-operating. It’s challenging to mobilize that. We’re talking about a significant sized park.”
Kitchener Mayor Berry Vrbanovic tells CityNews 570, he will be meeting with City Staff and WRPS Tuesday.
“Thousands of people of all ages in Downtown Kitchener and hundreds in Victoria Park celebrated Canada Day and all the things that make Canada great, without incident. I was one of them. Let’s not lose sight of the awesomeness experienced by many throughout … unfortunately a group of young people, later in the evening, chose to break the law and behave illegally, putting both people and property in danger.”
“WRPS continue their investigation today about those incidents both here and in neighbouring communities,” adds Vrbanovic.
“I want to thank Waterloo Regional Police members and City of Kitchener Bylaw Enforcement and Corporate security staff, who were deployed throughout the day yesterday, and who also managed the disappointing situation that occurred yesterday (Monday) evening.”
Leading up to the Canada Day Long Weekend, City of Kitchener Bylaw had said they were teaming up with WRPS, hoping to avoid another dangerous situation.
Director of Bylaw Enforcement for the City of Kitchener, Gloria MacNeil, told CityNews 570 they would be “adding additional officers on for the entire weekend, similar to what we did for May 2-4, just to have a bigger proactive presence in the city.”
Victoria Park was reopened on Tuesday morning.
