The city councillor for Knoxdale-Merivale Ward, where a man was stabbed on Thursday evening, says the incident involved a dispute between several young girls. In a post on Facebook on Saturday, Coun. Sean Devine said the man who was stabbed in Nepean’s Craig Henry Park around 9:40 p.m. on Thursday is a 55-year-old parent who intervened in a youth conflict. “According to information provided to me by Ottawa Police, including an update this afternoon, this incident involved a dispute between several female youths — all under 15 years of age,” Devine said. “A 55-year-old male parent attempted to intervene and was stabbed by one of the youths.” The man suffered serious but non-life-threatening injuries, Devine said. Ottawa paramedics told CTV News on Saturday that the man had been taken to the Ottawa Hospital trauma centre in stable condition after being stabbed twice in the abdomen. Devine says the incident was not gang-related and that two suspects have been arrested. “While I am relieved that arrests have been made and that police have indicated there is no ongoing risk to the broader community, we should not minimize the seriousness of what happened,” Devine said. “When this kind of violence starts to occur with increasing frequency, it feels like there is a risk to the broader community. When most of these incidents involve youth, it suggests that there’s clearly an ongoing risk to the youth community.” The councillor says he has been advocating for greater safety measures in Craig Henry Park and will continue to push for “increased patrols, greater police visibility, and meaningful enforcement when officers encounter illegal behaviour.” “A violent incident involving young people, and occurring in one of our neighbourhood parks, is deeply troubling. It reflects concerns that many Craig Henry residents and I have been raising for some time about deteriorating conditions in certain public spaces,” Devine said. Crime prevention through environmental design measures will also be explored for Craig Henry Park, Devine says. The stabbing incident at Craig Henry Park was one of four violent incidents that occurred over a 24-hour period in Ottawa between Thursday evening and Friday night.
