Man charged with three hate-motivated attacks on women in Edmonton

EDMONTON – Police say a 44-year-old man has been arrested and charged with three hate-motivated attacks on women in Edmonton.

Shane Edward Tremblay, who has no fixed address, is facing three counts of uttering threats and three counts of assault.

The first attack took place about 2 p.m. on Jan. 18, when a man uttered threats against a 43-year-old Black woman outside a convenience store and then followed her inside the store and assaulted her.

The other attacks against two Muslim women took place on Feb. 3.

One happened about noon at the University of Alberta transit centre, where a 19-year-old woman wearing a hijab was approached by a man who made racial comments and became aggressive but left when a transit employee intervened.

The other took place about half an hour later along Whyte Avenue, where a 27-year-old woman wearing a burqa was pushed to the ground and threatened.

Police have said a man stopped in front of the woman on a sidewalk, blocked her path and yelled insults at her before he crossed the street. The woman thought he was gone so she kept walking, but police said he came up behind her, pushed her to the ground and made threats to kill her and tear off her burqa.

“The actions of this individual have traumatized these three women and created a significant level of fear in our community,” said Sgt. Gary Willits of the Edmonton Police Service hate crimes and violent extremism unit.

“I am grateful to our partners, including ETS Transit officials, the University of Alberta Protective Services, businesses along Whyte Avenue and the convenience store staff, all of whom played an instrumental role in identifying our suspect.”

He said Tremblay is well known to police for multiple related incidents in the past few years.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 8, 2021.