Latest attack on the Galloping Goose raises safety concerns

Last week a man wearing a balaclava randomly attacked four young people with bear spray and a knife near Atkins Avenue and Westwind Drive on the Galloping Goose Trail. The incident highlighted the safety concerns for pedestrians and cyclists on the trail. 

The Sept. 4 attack on the teens can be added to a list of others that have taken place, over the past decade, along the roughly 60-kilometre trail that runs from Victoria to Sooke. The attacks have occurred mainly at night when victims—both men and women—were on the trail alone.

In March 2010, teen Kimberly Proctor’s body was discovered along the Galloping Goose hiking trail near Langford. Kruse Hendrick Wellwood and Cameron Moffat were arrested and charged with her violent murder. While that crime occurred at Wellwood’s home, the isolation of the trail made it an opportune place to leave Proctor’s body. That gruesome find marked the beginning of a chain of other criminal events along the trail. 

August 2013, a 49-year-old Saanich woman was approached on the trail by three men. One of them punched her in the face in an unprovoked attack that sent her to hospital. 

In June 2014, a woman in her early 20s was dragged, beaten and then sexually assaulted close to the Galloping Goose near Jacklin Road. A man was arrested in October of that year for the assault. The assault occurred at around 10:40pm.

In October 2015, a Langford man was robbed at knifepoint near the Westshore Town Centre. On March 12 that year, a woman was punched in the face and robbed on the Galloping Goose trail between Hagel Road and Hatley Memorial Gardens.

In March 2017, a Colwood woman was dragged from the trail near Pickford Road and sexually assaulted. 

In July 2022, a man exposed himself to a woman on the trail in Metchosin just after 7pm.

In 2022, there was a call from the local community for more lighting on the trail after an accident involving a cyclist and a pedestrian. A statement at the time from West Shore RCMP Const. Meghan Groulx noted that between 2017 and 2022, there were 200 calls for service with a Galloping Goose component. 

That call for increased lighting and general safety concerns was echoed in the Capital Regional District’s 2019 survey of trail visitors authored by Urban Systems. The survey found that the top user concerns were “increase in user volumes and speed, lack of separation between trail uses, poor trail etiquette, lack of lighting, safety concerns at intersections, and crime.” 

The report called for additional lighting along the trail to improve safety and reduce crime. In 2022, $10K was allocated for the Happy Valley Road Safety Project through the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure to get more lighting along the trail in Metchosin. Despite those improvements, much of the trail remains dark, and, even in more urban areas, the trail traverses isolated areas that provide good cover for would-be attackers. 

As for the teens in last week’s attack, they said they didn’t see the attacker coming. On Monday, West Shore RCMP confirmed that a 32-year-old Langford man is facing eight charges, including assault with a weapon, assault causing bodily harm, possessing a weapon for a dangerous purpose and using a disguise while committing an offence.  

In an interview with CHEK News about last week’s incident, victim Brody Metallic said when he was trying to get the mace away from the attacker, the man took out a knife and stabbed him a number of times. The teens said they were hanging out, sitting just off the trail when the attack occurred. Metallic suffered four knife wounds in total, one to his side, one to his back and two to his leg. One of the other victims, Paige McDougall, said more needs to be done to make the area safer. “They need more lights on the Goose,” she told CHEK. 

The Capital Regional District does have plans to widen and light sections of the Galloping Goose. Phase A of that project includes $17.8 million in lighting improvements, but that will only account for a 6.6km section between the Selkirk Trestle and Grange Road (adjacent to McKenzie Avenue) and 1.3km of the Lochside Regional Trail between the Switch Bridge and McKenzie Avenue/Borden Streets. 

When asked if the West Shore RCMP were stepping up patrols on the trail in response to the Sept. 4 attack, an RCMP spokesperson told the Westshore in an email, “Our Bike Patrol Unit routinely conducts patrols along the Galloping Goose and other trails in the West Shore. We will continue with patrolling the trails.” They did not indicate the frequency of those bike patrols.

As for public safety after the Sept. 4 attack, West Shore RCMP said, “we don’t believe this suspect is an ongoing risk to the public,” noting that he remains in custody until he will be remanded on Oct. 3.

The RCMP recommend trail users let friends and family know what route they are taking and what time they can be expected home. They also encourage using the trail with friends and keeping your phone on you and charged in case you need to call for help.  

They also said that opting for a well lit city sidewalk is a good alternative to the trail If you are travelling late at night and are alone.