Sword attack at Brandon high school was racially motivated act of hate, police say

Darren Bernhardt · CBC News

· Posted: Jun 20, 2025 12:53 PM EDT | Last Updated: 1 hr ago

WARNING: This communicative contains graphic details of unit and injuries.

The sword onslaught astatine a Brandon precocious schoolhouse past week was a targeted and racially motivated assault, constabulary say.

"The offender planned the onslaught and the perpetration of unit against targets chosen specifically based connected contention — targeting radical of colour and immigrants. It was a deliberate, senseless, targeted enactment of hate," Chief Tyler Bates said successful a connection posted connected the constabulary service's Facebook leafage connected Friday.

"This is disturbing and nary 1 should ever fearfulness for their information due to the fact that of the colour of their skin, and nary kid should beryllium made to consciousness unsafe successful a spot of learning. There is nary spot successful our assemblage for racism, hate or unit of immoderate kind."

Chinonso Onuke, 15, is recovering aft the onslaught connected June 10 near him with wounds connected his hands, thorax and thigh. Seven of his fingers were astir severed arsenic helium fought disconnected the attacker successful a hallway astatine Neelin High School.

A 16-year-old chap student faces charges of attempted murder, uttering threats, possession of a weapon and wearing a disguise.

The accused was ordered to person a intelligence wellness appraisal aft a bail proceeding successful court.

Bates told reporters Friday it may instrumentality respective months earlier authorities find whether to property additional, hate-related charges.

"At this juncture … there's the execution of hunt warrants that takes place. There's evidence that's gleaned from witnesser statements that person been taken. All of that collectively, you know, leads you to a peculiar conclusion," Bates said.

"When you person eyewitness accounts, you know, racialized epithets.… When you person an offender that is armed, that is walking past Caucasian students and having nary intent to harm those students, but actively pursuing students of colour, you know, that surely speaks to a racialized motive," helium said. "It's irrefutable."

'The metropolis is united'

Onuke's household are originally from Nigeria. Emmanuel Ahaneku, seat of the Umu Igbo Brandon Association, said they're salient members of the city's Igbo community.

Ahaneku said Friday the community needed to perceive constabulary acknowledging thing they already knew, and that the authorities were "calling it what it is."

It "shows the assemblage that, yes, we are portion of this community," helium said. "Cynicism oregon pessimism regarding it, this besides helps calm that fear.… This metropolis is agreed and everybody is valued."

In an interrogation with CBC News earlier this week, Onuke said his attacker was wearing a agelong achromatic trench coat, a hat and a disguise with a agelong beak. At first, helium thought it was a costume — until the teen pulled retired a jagged sword and lunged astatine him, striking him successful his stomach.

Onuke fought disconnected the onslaught and ran to the schoolhouse office. The schoolhouse was instantly enactment into lockdown.

Police were called at 1:15 p.m., and by 1:22 p.m., the 16-year-old was in custody. Officers utilized a stun weapon to subdue and disarm him.

Onuke was rushed to Winnipeg for much than 10 hours of exigency surgery.

In his Facebook post, Bates reiterated what helium said astatine a quality league the time aft the attack — that the emergency readying the constabulary work fhas undertaken with the Brandon School Division, the established narration betwixt schoolhouse liaison officers and students, and the swift action of the responding officers "prevented wide casualty."

However, it is wide determination remains enactment to bash to further heighten and amended information wrong Brandon schools, the station said.

"There's tons of things that happened that prevented further casualty," Bates told reporters. "That coagulated foundation … [are] things that we tin turn from and larn from and look astatine what further information measures are prudent."