Whitehorse woman speaks out after alleged bear-spray attack on son

Last Saturday, Jen Collon woke up to the news of her son being at the emergency room in Whitehorse.

The 20-year-old had apparently just been bear-sprayed on Two Mile Hill.

"The only thing I heard was that my son got shot right in the face and it just fed all of my worst fears," said Collon, a resident of Whitehorse, while speaking to CBC News.

Collon then got in her vehicle to head to the Whitehorse General Hospital. It felt like a long drive to the emergency room, she said.

"I was thinking of all of the worst-case scenarios. He's blind. They are doing CPR because he can't breathe. His lungs are permanently damaged. He's got chemical burns," she recalled.

Upon reaching the hospital around midnight on Saturday, she was able to see her son after waiting an hour, but she could not get close to him.

"Anytime I took a step towards him, I was assaulted with the smell or the fumes of the bear spray. I would start coughing and then that made him look even sadder and more distraught," Collon said. "His skin was on fire".

She says her son was in excruciating pain and looked traumatized.

Collon says she called the RCMP and an officer arrived at the hospital to take statements.

Suspects identified, police say

According to the RCMP, the incident reportedly happened at 11:30 p.m. Saturday, and police have identified suspects. 

They're also looking for other witnesses or any dash-cam or surveillance video that might show the suspect vehicle — a red Toyota RAV4 — in the area.

According to Collon, the suspect vehicle stopped in the middle of the road, blocking traffic. Her son was in the immediate vehicle behind.

She says three masked individuals exited the red vehicle and approached her son's vehicle. That's when her son allegedly rolled his window down to talk to them, and was hit with bear spray. 

The suspects then allegedly ran back to the red vehicle and drove away.

The bear spray temporarily blinded Collon's son, she said. A friend who was also in the car with him then drove him to the emergency room.

Collon's son was not willing to speak to CBC News out of fear of being targeted by the same individuals.

Collon says her son does not have life-threatening injuries but the trauma caused by the apparently random act of violence will have long-term consequences for the family.

"He's sobbing and in excruciating pain and asking, 'why did this happen? Why did they do this?'" said Collon. "He's already explaining that he's never leaving the house again."

Police have not said whether charges have been laid in the incident.

"We're really glad that the victims of this incident took appropriate steps to keep themselves safe. They did not attempt to engage further with the suspects and sought medical attention as quickly as possible," Const. Charlie McCann told CBC News.