Parents fuming after 13-year-old girl swarmed, knocked out at busy Kelowna beach

Photo: Contributed

A Kelowna dad says his 13-year-old daughter "can't feel safe" after a brutal swarming knocked her unconscious at a busy beach — an attack that was caught on video by multiple bystanders.

The father tells Castanet his daughter was lured to Gyro Beach on Friday evening by people she knows. He said she became suspicious after arriving and texted her mom asking for a ride home.

His daughter was attacked at about 8:30 p.m.

Video shared with Castanet appears to show the incident. It is too violent to be published.

The two-minute video appears to show a girl being thrown to the ground by two young people, then beaten while a group watches and cheers, some kicking dirt onto the victim. The attack is temporarily broken up by a bystander before a kick to the face appears to knock the victim unconscious.

In the video, the victim is struck a few more times and berated while lying motionless. One person can be seen using his hands to shovel dirt onto the victim's head while others can be heard laughing.

'Trying to get away'

The father said the video has already been turned over to Kelowna Mounties but he has received no updates about the investigation.

“She didn’t even want to fight,” he said. “She was trying to get away.”

His daughter suffered bruised ribs and a concussion. She was taken to hospital after the incident and is currently recovering.

“She can't feel safe going anywhere," he said. "There were 30 people there and she didn’t know any of them.”

The father said his family is interested in seeing the attackers charged.

Castanet has asked police for information about the incident.

Oct. 2, 2024 editors note: This story has been edited to remove the name of the victim's father, who consented to have his name published, but requested days later to have it removed.