The trial for a teenager accused of carrying out a racially motivated sword attack at a Brandon, Manitoba high school began unexpectedly ahead of schedule in the Court of King’s Bench. The now 17-year-old defendant, whose identity is protected under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, pleaded not guilty to nine charges related to the June 10, 2025, incident at Neelin High School, including three counts of attempted murder. Additional charges include aggravated assault, weapons offenses, and wearing a disguise with intent. According to an agreed statement of facts read in court by federal Crown prosecutor Hugh Crawley, the accused detailed his mass murder and suicide plans in a personal notebook and spent months researching domestic terrorism and historical mass casualty events. On the morning of the attack, the then-Grade 10 student entered the school wearing a black trench coat and a plague face mask while carrying a concealed sword and a steak knife. He targeted a 15-year-old Black student, inflicting serious injuries that included severe hand lacerations. The assailant then chased the school principal and other individuals before a lockdown was initiated. Police arrived within seven minutes of the intrusion, utilizing a Taser twice to subdue the teen after he repeatedly demanded that officers shoot him in the head. Investigators later searched the teenager’s home, recovering cardboard weapons, electronic devices containing white supremacist literature, and thousands of images and searches relating to mass shootings and Nazi ideology. The trial is scheduled to resume in June 2027.
Source: cbc.ca
