Chilliwack RCMP are asking the public for information after a video showing the alleged assault of a female youth by a group of young people began circulating on social media.
In the video, a group of young people is seen surrounding a girl, and then punching, kicking, and slapping her.
Police initially received a report on Nov. 8 that an assault had occurred in the evening that day, but limited information about the incident was available to investigators at the time, the RCMP said on Nov. 13.
Police received additional information on Nov. 13, after the video of the incident began circulating.
“This video is disturbing and has understandably raised concerns within our community,” RCMP’s Upper Fraser Valley Regional Detachment spokesperson Cpl. Carmen Kiener said.
Investigators are working with the Chilliwack School District to support student safety and address community concerns following the incident, but do not believe the incident was connected with any school activity, police said.
The Chilliwack RCMP have not yet identified any suspects connected with the incident, and are asking witnesses or anyone with information about the incident to contact them, they said.
“We need anyone with first-hand information, who was present during the incident, or who can help identify those involved to contact police,” Kiener said.
The RCMP said that social media posts and comments are unreliable as evidence, and that statements made directly to police are critical to their investigation.
Chilliwack-Cultus Lake MLA Á’a:líya Warbus commented on the incident on social media saying she was “disturbed and heartbroken.”
Warbus compared the alleged assault to that involving Reena Virk, a 14-year-old girl who was killed after being assaulted by a group of youth in Saanich, just outside Victoria, B.C., in 1997.
“It is egregious that 29 years to the day after Reena Virk was murdered in Saanich in a similar act of group violence, we are still facing serious concerns about public safety in communities across our province,” she wrote.
Virk’s death resulted in murder convictions for two teenagers and assault convictions for six other teenagers. The assault sparked widespread debate about bullying, group violence, and youth accountability.
More recently, similar incidents have been reported elsewhere in British Columbia. In July 2025, a youth was seriously assaulted by a group of teenagers in Sooke, on Vancouver Island, just west of Victoria. That attack was also filmed and shared on social media. Seven youths were subsequently identified, arrested, and charged.
In June this year, a young woman was allegedly attacked by two youths outside a residence in Castlegar, east of the Okanagan Valley, while other members of the group stood nearby. A witness intervened, and one suspect was arrested.
