‘A lot of blood loss’: Witness recounts Vancouver Island assault that left 3 injured
Published 10:40 am Monday, July 6, 2026
Victoria’s Mile Zero Monument was the scene of a major police response on Friday (July 3) after an assault in which, Abigail Urquhart said, a man wielding a machete injured three of her friends, prompting the deployment of about 20 police cruisers, a canine unit and drones.
Victoria Police said two suspects were arrested at the scene, including one youth. Neither of those arrested was among the injured. Both remain in custody, police said in a July 4 news release.
Of her three injured friends, Urquhart said two were taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries and have since been released. One sustained a deep cut to the hand and other lacerations, she said.
Urquhart said the incident began shortly before 10 p.m. near the Finlayson Point gazebo, where a peaceful gathering escalated into what she described as an unprovoked confrontation.
Earlier that night, Urquhart and 20 of her friends had gathered near a beach south of Mile Zero for a bonfire. At one point, she said, a group of 15 appeared atop an adjacent hill and continued watching her group.
“This group of males, who had been there for quite some time, never actually came down to see us,” she said. “We didn’t really think much of it.”
Urquhart said the situation took a turn when she and a few of her female friends were on a walk.
“The beach was getting colder, so we went up and walked to the gazebo and noticed that a few of the males from that group kind of trailed behind us,” she said. “Suddenly one of them flicked out a knife and asked if we wanted to come for a walk with them.”
Concerned, Urquhart and her friends ran back to alert their friends. The other group followed and a confrontation ensued between the two groups.
Urquhart said a man from the other group spat on her before a fight broke out.
“Everything that just happened was so disgusting and so wrong,” she said. “They just started freaking out.”
One of Urquhart’s friends became involved in a fistfight with the man who had previously produced a knife. She said that after being overpowered, the man produced a machete and began swinging it, injuring her friends.
“He struck one of my friends and they went down to the ground,” she said. “We didn’t realize how bad the injuries were.”
She said the larger group then dispersed, with several people running away. Only the man with the machete and another individual remained.
Urquhart said the pair attempted to flee but her group followed while police were en route. The chase ended near the Mile Zero monument, where she said Victoria Police arrested the two suspects shortly after 10 p.m.
“It was just so much going on and my friend got cut up pretty bad,” she said. “There was a lot of blood loss and he sustained some pretty bad injuries to his hands from the machete, and he has to go into surgery.
“If that machete was any sharper, there would have been dead people.”
In her interview with Victoria News, Urquhart said she hopes those responsible are held accountable.
“There were just so many emotions all at once,” she said.
Victoria News contacted VicPD for additional information but did not receive a response by publication deadline.
Police are asking anyone with information who has not yet spoken with investigators to contact the non-emergency line at 250-995-7654, ext. 1, and reference file number 26-27379.