Calgary woman attacked near Bow River, police release person of interest photo

Police have released CCTV footage of a person of interest in the attack on a woman in a downtown Calgary park on Sunday.

According to investigators, a woman was walking from Prince’s Island Park along the Bow River on Sunday morning around 3:30 a.m. when she was grabbed from behind. The suspect allegedly held a knife up to her and tried to drag her to the river.

The woman managed to fight back and was able to run away, finding a security guard nearby who called police.

“It’s very concerning when we see random attacks happening to people. It causes a significant response from Calgary Police Service, we’ve put significant resources into this investigation,” said Sgt. Matt Hinchey with the Calgary Police Service.

“We want people to feel safe in the city so they know they can walk around the city at any time of night and feel safe. It’s our job to make sure that’s happening.”

This attack comes just a week and a half after 31-year-old Vanessa Ladouceur was randomly attacked and stabbed, losing her life.

In that case, Ladouceur was walking at 6:40 a.m. at 1st Street and 10th Avenue when she was killed. The alleged attacker, 26-year-old Michael John Adenyi, has been charged with first-degree murder.

Related article: ‘Senseless’: Calgary police say woman stabbed and killed Friday was randomly attacked

But, violent incidents like this don’t just happen when the sun goes down.

Nicole Jacewicz was the victim of a violent attack last May in Downtown Calgary. She says a man robbed her at knifepoint in broad daylight on a busy sidewalk.

“He turned around and pulled the knife on me,” Jacewicz said. “He came towards me and told me to give him my purse. I was shocked, so I just put my hands up. There was only one person who stopped and helped, everyone else just walked by.”

Jacewicz says she has always felt uneasy walking downtown alone, but this incident has changed her life.

“I used to love going for walks, I used to love being outdoors,” Jacewicz said. “And since May I haven’t left the house by myself once.”

WATCH: CityNews’ Jasmine Vickaryous reports on safety concerns being raised after a woman was randomly attacked and killed on Friday. 

Calgary police have said attacks like these are rare, especially those resulting in death.

“Random attacks are actually very rare in our city, we don’t typically see events like this occur,” said Sgt. Sean Gregson with the Calgary Police Service.

But that doesn’t necessarily make people heading out at night feel any more comfortable.

It’s not the victim’s fault 

Sgt. Hinchey reinforced the thought that it’s not the fault of the victim that they were attacked. And that we need to be looking at the actions of the offenders, and not blaming victims, especially women, for wanting to go for a late-night stroll.

“Our victims are not doing anything wrong in these situations. The offenders are preying on these victims, so we as a society, as a community, need to ensure we are helping these people. Offer assistance, call 9-1-1 to provide that assistance,” Hinchey said.

He says if people really want to feel safer, they should look at finding someone to walk with and call a friend while walking so someone will know instantly if something goes wrong.

Shane Lutzi is the lead instructor and owner at Life Armour YYC. He says the best advice is to avoid altercation but to defend yourself if it comes to it.

“You need to summon as much courage as you possibly can in the moment, and, for lack of a better term, fight like hell to get out of the situation.”

Anyone with information on Sunday morning’s incident is being asked to contact police at 403-266-1234.

– With files from Jasmine Vickaryous and Jillian Code