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One person was hospitalized on Tuesday afternoon after a group of people were bear sprayed at a business on Regina’s Victoria Avenue East.
According to police, officers found multiple victims suffering from the effects of the stinging spray when they arrived at the scene shortly after 3 p.m. Some of the victims were treated at the scene by paramedics, while one was transported to a local hospital “for further assessment.”
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Police said officers responding to a suspicious person on College Avenue on Wednesday morning arrested the 27-year-old female suspect in the bear spray incident.
She’s now facing a charge of robbery, police said, and was scheduled to appear in Regina Provincial Court on Thursday morning.
What is bear spray?
Bear spray is a deterrent containing capsaicin, a chemical found in chili peppers. The canister releases a cone-shaped cloud of spray at a speed of over 100 km/h, approximately 10 m away. Capsaicin inflames the eyes and respiratory system of both animals and humans.
According to bearwise.org, the spray is oil-based, so first aid for the bear spray is to wash off the residue with soap and water, don’t rub your eyes or nose, and rinse your eyes with clean water until the irritation subsides. The effects generally wear off in about 45 minutes, the bear awareness site says.
In 2024, the provincial government announced new regulations aiming to reduce the number of criminal incidents involving bear spray.
The changes include regulations to restrict the possession of bear spray in public urban spaces and a ban on altering bear spray to hide or disguise the product’s identity. Anyone charged under the new regulations could face fines of up to $100,000.
According to the provincial government, police in Saskatchewan have responded to over 3,000 bear spray incidents over the last five years, but the total number of incidents involving bear spray could be much higher when factoring in unreported cases.
