PSA: The Dallas Road attack was not a random attack
Over the weekend a lot of us became aware of the machete attack near Dallas Road. It is the kind of rare violent incident, that when it happens, sends ripple affects through our community(s).
The witness account widely shared by the press positioning the event as a random attack, further exacerbating anxieties. Immediately, the offenders' ethnic backgrounds became a focus (even when most of us couldn't tell a Syrian apart from a Mexican on the street, lets be honest).
Point being, this is the type of news that keeps people from enjoying the outdoors, turns parents overprotective, and makes us suspicious of our own neighbours.
Victoria is a very unique place, there's not really anywhere like it. One of the things that makes it so unique is that we live in a high-trust society where people generally see the good in each other.
The framing of the attack near Beacon Hill Park makes it sound like a random attack. As more details emerge we do now know that both factions had members who claimed to be part of highschool "street gangs". I put that in quotations because these are not some organized groups of criminals. But rather unruly youth who are probably out of the control of their families. Both factions had youth who had ongoing beef over nothing that really matters, that spun out of control. Everyone is okay, and no one is suffering life altering injuries. It's weird for someone to be walking around with a machete, not denying that. But all of this could have been a lot worse.
Lets keep things in perspective and remember Victoria has the third-lowest murder rate among all Canadian metro areas, and crime is at its lowest point since 2020.
We clearly have an issue with misguided and underparented youth in this town. These are usually also some of our lowest-income families. This became clear when details emerged about the killers in the Reena Virk case many years ago. Some of us remember the bored youth 'gangs' who biked around James Bay many decades ago. Something needs to be done to direct our most vulnerable youth away from the stupidity, but we should not be hiding our heads in the sand. We still live in one of the best places on earth, despite what the internet would have you believe.
Edit: The name of the group the attacker is in is not what was posted on here earlier. One of the factions call themselves "Brothers Keepers" and another called themselves "MXX8" (I don't remember the exact combination of letters and numbers). The Brothers Keepers have no affiliation with the mainland actual gang of the same name.