EDITOR’S NOTE: The Campbell River Mirror would not normally run a photo as graphic as the one embedded in this article. However, family friends of the victim have requested that the photo be shared in an effort to draw attention to the heinous crime, and in hope of capturing the man responsible.
WARNING: graphic image
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After Raymond Corbett visited his friend, Bob, in hospital Wednesday morning, he was compelled to post what he saw to Facebook.
“I’m almost speechless, but have to share,” Corbett said in his Facebook thread. “This is the closest person I have to a grandfather we call him grampa Bob. He was with my grandmother for the last 15 years of her life. He was attacked with a [machete] this morning while waiting for newspapers on 5th st in Courteney as he and my grandmother have done for as long as I can remember.”
While waiting for his newspapers to arrive, to begin his regular morning deliveries, Bob was attacked by a man in his 20s.
RELATED: 89-year-old attacked with machete
According to the RCMP release, Bob was inside his vehicle parked on the 400-block of 5th Street at approximately 4:15 a.m. when he was approached by a man on a bicycle who asked him for a cigarette. Bob told the man that he did not have any cigarettes before the man assaulted him with what appeared to be a machete.
The 89-year-old victim then, amazingly, drove himself to the Comox Valley RCMP detachment to report the attack. He suffered multiple wounds to his facial area and was taken to hospital.
The suspect has been described as being young, possibly in his 20s with a dark complexion, wearing something on his head. The suspect was riding a bicycle.
“At this point in the investigation, the attack appears to be completely unprovoked,” said Const. Monika Terragni, media relations officer for the Comox Valley RCMP. “Investigators have been scouring the area for evidence but we are looking for anyone who may have seen the suspect or for anyone with surveillance or dashcam footage during the early morning hours downtown.”
Investigators from the Comox Valley RCMP Major Crime Unit are gathering evidence in the area and will continue with the investigation.
If you have any information, call the Comox Valley RCMP at (250) 338-1321 and refer to file 2019-11772. Additionally, you can send video footage directly to the Comox Valley RCMP at comoxvalleyrcmp@rcmp-grc.gc.ca and an investigator will follow up.
If you wish to remain anonymous, you can call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS).
“My heart is broken thinking someone could do such a thing to another human person,” Corbett said on his Facebook page. “Please share this I want this person caught he is in his 20’s riding a bike that’s all I know as of now. There were other people around that seen this individual before this happened.”
A GoFundMe page has been set up to support Bob, which has already reached over $6,000 of its $10,000 goal in the first 10 hours. Any money raised will help him in his recovery, the page says, and “any extra funds will be donated to a charity of his choice.”
With files by Terry Farrell, Comox Valley Record
Here’s a direct link to the GoFundMe page.
To see the photo, click on the Juxtapose emblem.