What Were You Doing At the Age of 12 Years Old?

I guessing beating strangers into a coma wasn't on the list, but it is only a guess. Woman, 55, beaten into a coma at Coliseum LRT platform in central Edmonton - Global News

She was just sitting on a bench, waiting for a commuter train.

It was reported to police that a 55-year-old woman was sitting on a bench waiting for the [Light Rail Transit] when she was approached by two 12-year-old girls who began berating the woman, then subsequently assaulted her to the point of unconsciousness.

The two girls then fled the LRT station, but were caught a short distance away by police and taken into custody.

There was no reason. I suppose it could have been a robbery attempt, but we don't know.

Edmonton has a population of about 1 million people. It is a 300 km drive north of Calgary. While not a small town, that doesn't strike me as a big city, either, and yet it seems to developing big-city-style crime problems.

That is only the most high-profile case of recent times. There has been a lot of violence on Edmonton's transit. 'Have to be careful:' Recent attacks at Edmonton's Coliseum LRT station raise alarm.

Around the same time as the incident detailed above, a 58-year-old man was attacked as he left the same station to board a bus.

According to data provided by the Edmonton Police Service (EPS), since Friday, there have been 2,433 reports called into police so far this year regarding incidents at all of the city’s LRT and transit centres. Nearly 27 per cent of those calls have involved violent crimes and weapons.

Politicians are wringing their hands, saying the police should do more with the data. People should "report incidents." The very idea that people should be allowed to defend themselves, because the police cannot be everywhere, is anathema to Canada.

As to the level that civilization has fallen:

“It worries me a lot,” said Clyde Deri, who has been taking public transit almost every day for the past six years.

“One time I was on crutches coming back from school after I injured myself playing basketball, and some random guy just kicked my crutches out from under me and I fell. I didn’t know what he was going to do to me.”

That is fairly depraved behavior, but pretty much what I have come to expect, though I thought Canadians were more polite. Not anymore. (Hat tip to Rebel News: Progressive policies result in rocketing crime rates in Edmonton, Toronto.)