Man charged after 4 youths attacked on Galloping Goose trail in Langford, B.C.

A 32-year-old man is facing eight charges, including assault with a weapon and assault causing bodily harm after, after a group of young people were attacked on a popular pedestrian trail on southern Vancouver Island.

A 32-year-old man is facing eight charges, including assault with a weapon and assault causing bodily harm after, after a group of young people were attacked on a popular pedestrian trail on southern Vancouver Island.

Mounties were called to a reported assault on the Galloping Goose trail near Atkins Avenue and Westwind Drive in Langford, at 10:22 p.m. on Sept. 4, according to an RCMP statement.

Police say four young people were attacked with bear spray by a man wearing a balaclava and carrying what officers described as an "edged weapon."

There was a brief altercation before the man fled the scene on foot, according to police.

Investigators say one of the victims suffered a serious but non-life-threatening knife wound and was taken to hospital for treatment. The other three youths were all treated by paramedics at the scene.

Five minutes after police arrived on scene, officers were called to a nearby home on Kingswood Drive, where a man, who matched the suspect description, was reportedly acting erratically

Officers, along with a police dog, attended the home and arrested the man. "Police subsequently seized a can of bear mace and a knife, which is believed to have been used in the offence," the West Shore RCMP said in a news release Monday.