Violent Assault or Tragic Accident?

SAANICH - Investigators come and go from a townhouse on McKenzie Avenue, looking for clues that would explain what happened to a four-year-old boy named Joshua late Wednesday night. He was taken to hospital with serious injuries including major head trauma. Police say emergency room staff tipped them off that the injuries could be related to an assault. But today police still can't confirm what happened.

"We're treating this as if it's a crime," says Saanich Police Sgt. Dean Jantzen, "Absent of some contrary information we will continue to treat this as a crime and investigate it as a serious crime by involving our major crimes detectives." Police are now awaiting a medical report to tell them what may have caused the little boy's injuries.

Relatives are devastated that the word "assault" has been used to explain what may have happened to Joshua. Norma Smith, an aunt of Joshua's adoptive father says "we suspect there might have been, he might have fell and bumped his head somehow....something happened so we're not all quite sure yet until we hear from the doctors."

Smith says the boy has lived in the home with his adoptive parents, Rodrina and Justin Williams, and their four children, for a few months. She says the investigation is very difficult on the entire family.

"They're going through a very tough time. It is scary. Those children are everything to Rodrina and Justin and all of us," she says.

At the scene, a dog that police say is trained in tracking and sniffing out drugs, enters the home. And as other relatives arrive, they aren't so open to talking about the incident, saying they have sought legal advice.

/A\ News has learned security has been increased at Victoria General Hospital. The Vancouver Island Health Authority says it only increases security when it's determined that a patient could be at increased risk. What happened to the four-year-old boy remains a mystery and police say they are working around the clock, while the child clings to life in critical condition.

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• /A\ News Vancouver Island
• Saanich
• Assault
• Accident
• Investigation
• Police
• Child
• Family
• Astrid Braunschmidt