Teenager in critical condition following stabbing in Constellation Drive area
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Ottawa police are investigating a serious stabbing incident inside the food court of the complex at 100 Constellation Drive during the busy lunch hour Thursday.
A teenager was stabbed and suffered “serious, life-threatening” injuries. He was rushed to hospital in critical condition, according to Ottawa Paramedic Service spokesman Marc-Antoine Deschamps.
Paramedics were called to the scene around noon Thursday. Police issued a warning on social media asking people to avoid the area due to an active operation with a “significant police presence.”
Police said they have arrested one suspect in an update Thursday afternoon.
The identity of the youth who was stabbed has not been released.
Ottawa-Carleton District School Board confirmed in an email that the stabbing victim was a student at the nearby Sir Guy Carleton Secondary School.
“The school has been in contact with the student’s family and is cooperating with the police investigation,” the board said.
The building is home to the provincial offences court and the City of Ottawa’s parking ticket payment office. The stabbing was witnessed by numerous city employees on their lunch break, according to eyewitnesses, who declined to provide their names.
The stabbing happened near the Tim Horton’s outlet in the building’s ground-level food court.
Police caution tape could be seen around the eatery’s front counter Thursday afternoon before the area was closed off to the public early in the afternoon.
Several witnesses were seen speaking with investigators and with City of Ottawa security staff.
Numerous employees were seen leaving early for the day and several city services were suspended due to the police investigation.
The parking and provincial offences courts at the Mary Pitt Centre at 100 Constellation Drive announced they would be “temporarily closed” for the day “due to unforeseen circumstances outside of our control.”
In a statement issued by email at 1 p.m., Ottawa Police Service communications staff declined to comment further “so as not to impact the ongoing police operation/investigation.”
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