Stabbing victim calls on Saskatoon downtown businesses to improve security
CBC News | Posted: March 4, 2015 3:30 AM | Last Updated: March 5, 2015
Businessman was randomly attacked in front of Scotiabank Theatre
A stabbing victim, randomly attacked outside a downtown Saskatoon movie theatre last month, is calling on businesses to provide better security.
Kelly Lutz was walking into the Scotiabank Theatre on Feb. 13 at about 5:30 p.m. CST when a man ran up from behind him, pulled him back onto the sidewalk and stabbed him four times in the lower back and once in his hand.
"I felt certainly an amount of terror of what was going on," Lutz said. "He was out of control, swinging like a wild man."
Lutz said the knife hit both his lungs, nearly puncturing them. He spent two days in hospital. He's still suffering some pain and has shortness of breath.
A 40-year-old man was arrested the next morning and charged with aggravated assault and breaching probation.
Lutz said the man had been staying at the The Lighthouse, a shelter across the street from the theatre. Officials told him the man was asked to leave the shelter the day of the attack.
Lutz said The Lighthouse, the Scotiabank Theatre and other downtown businesses have an obligation to protect people coming to their premises. He's calling on them to improve security.
"There should be some level of security that's just a look out for trouble. So even if something does happen they can call for assistance and that's not there," he said.
Lutz would also like to see police patrols. He is an accountant who works in a downtown office and said he's seen more aggressive behaviour in the area in the last two years. He said the attack has made him more conscious of his surroundings when he's walking downtown.
"It's a traumatizing event," Lutz said. "It really makes you think about life and how precious it is and how it can change in just one instant."
As for the man accused of the stabbing, Lutz said he doesn't believe his anger was directed at him as an individual and he hopes the man gets help.
"I don't have any specific anger necessarily towards him," said Lutz. "I really want to make sure though that he's not let out again."