(SHELBY THEVENOT / iNFOnews.ca)

Three arrests have been made in connection to a swarming attack on a young girl at Gyro Beach in Kelowna.

The assault took place around 8:30 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 27, and when police officers arrived on the scene the swarm of youth dispersed.

Kelowna RCMP held an unscheduled media availability for select news outlets this morning and iNFOnews.ca was not invited.

RCMP said in a news release issued after the media availability that the attack was witnessed by about 30 teenagers and a video of the assault circulated on the internet. Only two out of 30 witnesses on the video called the police. 

Officers reviewed the video and identified five "aggressors” in the assault, and yesterday, Oct. 1, police arrested three out of the five teenagers identified.

The suspects who were arrested have been released on strict conditions, and police said in a media release they will be monitoring them to make sure they are complying with the terms of their release and show up to future court dates.

“We are asking everyone to please stop sharing and circulating the video. I know from my work with victims that have been exploited through imagery that continuous circulation of video and photos when they are a victim of crime has profound and lasting impacts. The video is degrading and the intent is to humiliate,” Sgt. Laura Pollock said in a media release.

Since the crime involved youths police are not able to release details about their identities.

Officers with the General Investigative Support Team are still working to collect evidence, interview the witnesses, and make any further arrests, RCMP said. 

There are two City of Kelowna Community Youth Safety Officers working with the school district to “educate our youth on making the right decisions and providing information on how to report crimes and seek support services," the release read.

“We can't really comment on those things or give any kind of reaction to that. We can say, obviously, we're working with RCMP if they need anything to try and identify people. And that we offer support in school to students, as we always do with any crisis incident. So we have teams and we have counsellors and so on available to support any students who are involved or witness anything traumatic, even when it's outside of school,” Justin Schneider with School District 23 told iNFOnews.ca.

RCMP are working with the John Howard Society, Ministry of Children and Family Development, the Boys and Girls Club Okanagan and School District 23 to find ways to connect youth to support and services.

“We know there is a distinct relation to the youth who commit the majority of violent crimes and those who have experienced some form of trauma, abuse, bullying and mental health diagnosis at a young age,” Sgt. Pollock said.

Anyone with information is asked to contact RCMP at 250-762-3300 and reference file number 2024-57168.

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