RCMP have confirmed they are investigating an incident involving security guards and an autistic child at the Lloydminster Exhibition fair over the weekend.
RCMP K Division public information officer Cpl. Mat Howell confirmed the incident is under investigation.
Video circulating on social media shows the boy, believed to be 13, being physically restrained, chased, and brought to the ground by guards from Executive Protection Services, a Regina-based security firm operating across Saskatchewan, Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario and B.C.
According to an eyewitness who was sitting with the boy at the time, he had become separated from his grandmother and was sitting calmly with a nearby family when a bystander, believing it would help reunite him with his grandmother, brought several security guards to the table.
“He was just sitting with us and he was fine,” the eyewitness said.
The eyewitness said the boy began to panic once he was surrounded by guards, and the situation escalated from there.
The boy’s grandmother, Esther Bird, told BorderPulse she never left the midway while searching for him, believing he would still be near the rides. RCMP members found her after the boy identified her in a video according to Bird.
BorderPulse sent Executive Protection Services detailed questions Sunday, including what training its guards receive for handling distressed or lost minors, and whether the company has been in contact with RCMP. EPS has not responded.
In Saskatchewan, security guards hold no greater legal authority than an ordinary member of the public. Under the Criminal Code of Canada, guards may use reasonable force in narrow circumstances, including citizen’s arrest for an indictable offence, defence of themselves or others, or removing a trespasser from property, but any force used must be the minimum necessary, and guards are not permitted to detain or question someone at length in place of police. Saskatchewan’s Private Investigators and Security Guards Act, 1997, additionally requires guards and their employers to report incidents involving use of force to the province’s registrar.
This story will be updated as new information becomes available.
Read more: RCMP officer assaulted, two arrested at Lloyd Ex Fair
