'Struck him 3 times': Man arrested after shovel attack in Nanaimo, B.C.
Warning: This story contains graphic video.
Update: On Wednesday afternoon, Nanaimo RCMP said a 30-year-old Nanaimo man had been arrested after an alleged assault with a shovel.
RCMP are recommending a single charge of assault with a weapon.
The man has since been released with a promise to appear in court on April 5.
The original story can be found below:
A woman is in shock after what she witnessed in a McDonald's parking lot in Nanaimo, B.C. on Monday.
Nanaimo RCMP say they are on the lookout for a man following an alleged shovel attack.
"I never imagined that I would see somebody wielding a shovel, chasing a man," said the woman, who wishes to remain anonymous.
"From what I saw, he struck him three times," she said.
The woman that shot the chaotic video showing the attack wants to remain anonymous as the man with the shovel is still at large.
"We’ve had prior contact with him," said Const. Gary O’Brien of the Nanaimo RCMP on Tuesday.
The 60-year old victim who we are also not identifying was captured on the same cellphone video, and explained how it all started.
"He was pulling out. I gave him a courtesy beep and waved him to come along," the victim told Nanaimo RCMP.
"Then he stopped and he yelled out something," he said. "Then I saw him get out and he had a weapon."
That weapon was a shovel that the witness says he used to hit the victim.
"He chased him and hit him once in the back of the head," said the witness. "Somewhere he made contact on his body, I’m not too sure if it was his hips or his ribs."
"That was when he flew into my car and then he made contact with him again when he was running away from my vehicle," she said.
The victim told police he was taken aback by the incident.
"I got out not knowing he was crazy," said the victim. "Then he was swearing and he pulled a weapon and I thought, 'Oh my gosh,' and he chased me."
Eventually in the video, the man with the shovel can be seen getting back into his car with his three passengers.
"We have the licence plate number, we’ve identified who the driver is and we will be following up with him," said O’Brien.
The driver fled in his vehicle before RCMP arrived. O’Brien says the man could be facing significant charges.
"Assault with a weapon and uttering threats would be the two primary charges that that individual could be looking at," said O’Brien.
The victim will recover and did not require medical attention.
"I think once the adrenaline from the situation wore off, I’m sure he would have felt the pain of each time the shovel struck him," said the witness.
Police are asking that if you see the man in the video, do not approach him and instead call the Nanaimo RCMP.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Trudeau promises $1B in loans for child-care providers to expand care centres
The federal government is launching a new loan program to help child-care providers in Canada expand their spaces, and will be extending further student loan forgiveness and training options for early childhood educators, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Thursday.
Spring allergy season has begun. Where is it worse in Canada?
The spring allergy season has started early in many parts of Canada, with high levels of pollen in some cities already. Experts weigh in on which areas have it worse so far this season.
'Nonsense:' Doug Ford slams lawsuits filed by Ontario school boards against social media platforms
Premier Doug Ford says that lawsuits launched by four Ontario school boards against a trio of social media platforms are “nonsense” and risk becoming a distraction to the work that really matters.
Several flight attendants from Pakistan have gone missing after landing in Canada
Multiple flight attendants from Pakistan International Airlines have abandoned their jobs and are believed to have sought asylum in Canada in the past year and a half, a spokesperson for the government-owned airline says.
N.B. man wins $64 million from Lotto 6/49
A New Brunswicker will go to bed Thursday night much richer than he was Wednesday after collecting on a winning lottery ticket he let sit on his bedroom dresser for nearly a year.
Multiple bridges in Calgary shut down for police incident
Calgary police have shut down a number of bridges into and out of the downtown core as officers deal with a distraught individual.
King Charles calls for acts of friendship in first public remarks since Kate's cancer diagnosis
King Charles III gave public remarks for Maundy Thursday, addressing the importance of acts of friendship, following his and Catherine, Princess of Wales’ cancer diagnoses.
Fallen crypto mogul Sam Bankman-Fried sentenced to 25 years in prison
Crypto entrepreneur Sam Bankman-Fried was sentenced Thursday to 25 years in prison for a massive fraud that unravelled with the collapse of FTX, once one of the world's most popular platforms for exchanging digital currency.
A dog and a bird formed an unlikely friendship. Their separation has infuriated followers
Peggy is a stout and muscular Staffordshire bull terrier, and Molly is a magpie, an Australian bird best known for swooping on humans during breeding season, not for befriending dogs. But in an emotional video posted online, Peggy’s owners announced that the animals had been separated.