Ottawa police say no arrests have been made after stabbings at Mooney’s Bay Park over the weekend left an adult man in critical condition and sent a teenage girl to hospital.
Officers said they were called to the park at about 8:53 p.m. on Saturday, May 30, after reports of an altercation.
Police said two injured victims were found at the scene.
Ottawa paramedics said an adult male suffered serious injuries and was transported to hospital in critical condition. Ottawa police officers began treating the victim before paramedics arrived and continued stabilizing him during transport, paramedics said.
A female teenager was also taken to hospital in stable condition with non-life-threatening injuries, according to paramedics.
Videos posted to social media after the incident show crowds of people running from the area as emergency crews responded. Other footage shows first responders wheeling a patient on a stretcher out of the park.
Elizabeth Elton, who lives in the area and was at Mooney’s Bay right before the stabbing, said she saw several hundred young people gathered between the beach and playground.
“It was just a gathering of kids,” Elton said.
She said more people appeared to arrive as the evening went on.
“As we were leaving, we noticed a huge crowd of kids coming over the hill,” she said. “There were a whole bunch more kids coming.”
Elton said the size of the crowd stood out, but she did not see signs of conflict before leaving the area.
“There was no sense of any antagonism,” Elton said. “There was no sense of gangs or anything like that. It was just a bunch of people.”
She said police were in the area before the stabbing.
“There were two police cars parked in the parking lot,” Elton said. “They were just watching.”
Police maintained a large presence at Mooney’s Bay on Sunday while investigators searched the area for evidence.
The police presence and closure of parts of the park led organizers to cancel the 2026 Ottawa MS Walk, which had been scheduled for Sunday at the nearby Terry Fox Athletic Facility.
In a statement, MS Canada spokesperson Braden Sykora said event organizers arrived at the site Sunday morning to find a significant police presence and that the area was not accessible for the event.
“Based on the information available at that time, we made the decision to cancel our event,” Sykora said.
While organizers were unable to hold the annual fundraising walk as planned, Sykora said the organization was grateful for the support and understanding shown by Ottawa’s MS community.
“We look forward to hosting the Ottawa MS Walk in 2027,” he said.
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