(MARSHALL JONES / iNFOnews.ca)
June 20, 2013 - 3:38 PM
While RCMP continue to investigate exactly what happened last night at a huge graduation bush party where a teenage girl was allegedly sexually assaulted, one student who attended was surprised to see her 'fun' time in today's headlines.
"Everybody seemed pretty calm when I was there," said 16-year-old Alyson Testwaich.
Testwaich was at the party from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. at Tree Flats in Barnhartvale for a Kamloops high schools tradition dubbed the Passing of the Torch Party.
"It was my first one," she said. "All the schools get together to celebrate the Grade 11s going into Grade 12 and them graduating. It was fun."
While RCMP reported about 1,000 people at the high school bush party, Testwaich was surprised to hear the number, saying it seemed more like about 300 people. Her response is similar to other student reactions on social media.
RCMP continue to investigate the matter, with a male teenager unknown to the alleged 17-year-old victim as the suspect. They are following up online with the belief that someone may have seen something.
Kamloops RCMP Cpl. Cheryl Bush appealed to the public today to hand over potential photographs of the incident. However, Testwaich said yesterday was the last day of school, and she only saw the news reports of the event on social media.
A collection of Tweets posted below reveals there's more chatter online than Testwaich may be aware of.
However, now that she knows what went on last night, she said she probably won't be going next year to pass the torch to the Grade 11's in her own graduating year.
"It seemed like a normal party," she said. "It's sad to know that kids would do that to each other."
To contact a reporter for this story, email: jwallace@infotelnews.ca, call: (250) 319-7494 or tweet: @jess__wallace.
News from © iNFOnews, 2013