Several weapons, including a loaded handgun, were found after police officers responded to an altercation between two women on Pandora Avenue early Monday.
Officers on patrol in the 900-block of Pandora Avenue, between Vancouver and Quadra streets, were alerted to a “physical altercation” between two women just before 1 a.m. Monday, Victoria police said in a statement Tuesday.
The victim, who had non-life-threatening injuries, was found lying on the ground, police said. A suspect was found in a nearby tent and arrested.
During the arrest, officers noticed several weapons inside the tent, including eight knives, two machetes, three cans of bear spray, a hatchet and a baton.
Officers also confiscated a loaded 9-mm handgun with an extended magazine, cash and an unspecified amount of drugs in a bag found next to the tent.
Victoria police Const. Terri Healy told the Times Colonist on Tuesday that no further details about the altercation could be provided as the investigation is still in its early stages.
In a statement, Police Chief Del Manak said that some people who aren’t homeless are “using tents and other structures to traffic drugs, conceal weapons and target vulnerable people.”
Manak said he is concerned with the level of violence and weapons “associated with drug-trafficking in our communities.”
Following a July 11 incident where a paramedic was assaulted while attending to a patient, firefighters and paramedics require a police escort before responding to medical calls in the 900-block of Pandora.
