A woman and her family are feeling unsettled after a disturbing assault in a shopping mall parking lot in St. Thomas, Ont., on Thursday that authorities are looking into as a racially charged incident.
“When he went to his car, I [thought] he was going to have a gun,” said Mariuxis Zambrano. She had gone to Elgin Mall with her 13-year-old son, her husband Sergio Estepa, and a friend to grab some food when they were confronted by a man shouting insults.
The encounter, which was partially captured on video, shows a man getting out of a white BMW wielding a baseball bat and repeatedly shouting “terrorists” and “ISIS,” while someone off-camera can be heard advising him to “stay away.”
St. Thomas police report that they received calls around 4:30 p. m. about a man attacking another man with a baseball bat.
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“He was about to hit our son, and my husband just jumped in… he swung that bat and hit my husband three times,” Zambrano recounted.
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Zambrano’s 52-year-old husband was taken to Elgin General Hospital where he received treatment for severe bruises and a cracked rib.
At the time of the attack, Zambrano noted that they’d just arrived at the mall. They were speaking Spanish and laughing about something funny.
“As Colombian people, we are always laughing very loud,” she explained. Seventeen years ago, she moved from Colombia to Canada with her family – including her brother who also shared footage of the incident that has circulated widely online.
“In Colombia, I never feel secure. Always I was panicked; I was not able to go outside after 6 o’clock,” she said softly.
In Canada, she feels more secure but this incident has shaken her deeply; she’s worried about what could have happened if her son had visited the mall alone.
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For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. The suspect drove away just before police arrived. Mark Phillips, aged 36, has now been charged with aggravated assault along with three counts of assault with a weapon. More on Crime More videos When asked if the attack is being treated as a hate crime, St. Thomas police Sgt. Brian Carnegie stated they believe the motive was racially driven. “That’s why we’ve called in the criminal investigation branch; if it borders the hate crime line then they are the ones to deal with those kinds of situations.” Carnegie mentioned that they managed to locate the suspect Thursday evening in south London thanks to assistance from London police. “Just an absolute coincidence that the London police got a call involving this male, and once they ran the vehicle they saw that we ran the vehicle too, and they contacted us to see what we wanted with him,” said Carnegie. Trending Now
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Zambrano’s 52-year-old husband was taken to Elgin General Hospital where he received treatment for severe bruises and a cracked rib.
At the time of the attack, Zambrano noted that they’d just arrived at the mall. They were speaking Spanish and laughing about something funny.
“As Colombian people, we are always laughing very loud,” she explained. Seventeen years ago, she moved from Colombia to Canada with her family – including her brother who also shared footage of the incident that has circulated widely online.
“In Colombia, I never feel secure. Always I was panicked; I was not able to go outside after 6 o’clock,” she said softly.
In Canada, she feels more secure but this incident has shaken her deeply; she’s worried about what could have happened if her son had visited the mall alone.
The suspect remains in custody awaiting his bail hearing while investigators continue their work on this case.
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