By: Kirpass Kaur
Edited by: Bradley Garlie
On September 22, 2024, an assault took place at the Tannery, resulting in the death of 41-year-old André Bourgeois of Grand-Digue. On October 3, 2024, Fredericton Police arrested a 17-year-old in connection with the crime. The youth has been charged with “S. 236 (b) C.C. – Manslaughter.” The identity of the youth is being kept private under the Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA). A bail hearing took place on October 10, 2024, pertaining to which no public statements have been made. The second victim of the assault escaped with minor injuries.
Footage of the assault has been floating around on the internet. The police made a post on Facebook seeking the said footage in order to further their investigation. A few posts have been made online, especially on the subreddit r/newbrunswickcanada and r/fredericton. A post was made by a reddit user u/Rustee12 who shared two Facebook posts, one of which was implicitly made by the Fredericton Police asking the public for identification of a few individuals. That link leads to error, so the post may have been removed to protect the identity of the individuals. However, the screenshot of that post is still floating around on the internet.
Reddit user u/MrRyo50 recognized a few of them in the comments under the post saying: “one guy tried to hit me with a car on my walk home last week. Couple of them actively hate crime me and friends for being lgbtq.”
Another user urged u/MrRyo50 to go to the police, which they had done in the past. They were told by the police that “boys will be boys” and to avoid the area.
The Fredericton community is enraged at this horrific crime. Several questions about the safety of individuals and groups alike are being raised. With the identities and the court case being closed under the YCJA, there is no way for the community to concretely know what the verdict of the justice department would be.
The Tannery is very popular among the student population. A lot of students from UNB frequent the Cap on the weekends. This certainly makes one wonder if a place like the Tannery which is almost always fluttering with people is safe. And if somewhere so crowded is unsafe, then what about other places?
