Upgraded charges for teen accused in Brandon high school sword attack

Charges against a teenager accused in a brutal sword attack at a Brandon high school have been upgraded. Danton Unger reports.

Charges have been upgraded against a 16-year-old boy accused of injuring a student with a sword inside a Brandon high school.

On Wednesday, Crown attorney Jennifer Comack confirmed the teenager was previously charged in June with one count of attempted murder and two counts of assault with a weapon. However, Comack said the Crown has upgraded the two assault charges and the teen now faces three attempted murder charges.

Comack told CTV News in an email she has given notice that the Crown intends to seek an adult sentence, should the accused be convicted or plead guilty. The maximum adult sentence for attempted murder is imprisonment for life.

Additional victims in the attack: Crown

Comack also confirmed there were additional victims in the attack – noting the three charges relate to three separate victims.

Brandon Police previously released information about only one victim, a 15-year-old boy, when the attack happened on June 10 at Neelin High School. The incident left the student with stab wounds to the chest, forearms, hands, and thighs, police previously announced.

However, Brandon Police Chief Tyler Bates said on Wednesday the accused also chased two other people in the high school with the sword, “with the intention to cause harm” along with “mass casualty intentions.”

“Subsequent to that initial attack on the student that was injured, (the accused) continued to navigate within the school, and he came across a staff member,” Bates told CTV News in a phone interview.

He said the staff member recognized the “lethal threat” and was able to evade the accused by moving to a secure classroom.

“The accused in this matter continued to move within the establishment, within the school, came upon another student, and with the sword in air, began running towards this other student with the intention to cause harm as well.”

Bates said the accused also had “intentions to cause further harm to both the staff member and the second student that fled.”

The accused teenager was initially charged with attempted murder, uttering threats, possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose and disguise with intent after the high school attack.

In June, Bates said the attack was racially motivated, citing a “significant amount” of evidence.

“The offender planned the attack and the perpetration of violence against targets chosen specifically based on race — targeting people of colour and immigrants,” Bates said in a statement at the time.

The Youth Criminal Justice Act prohibits the accused and any victims from being identified.

The next court date is scheduled for Oct. 7 in Brandon. No trial date has been set.

None of the charges or allegations have been tested in court.

-With files from CTV’s Danton Unger and Katherine Dow