Anatomy of a Swarming (The Prologue) (from "My Short Stories (Book One)") - by Anne Shier (a.k.a. "Annie")

(Based on an article in the Toronto Sun, July 2009)

The story I am about to tell you took place in the “Friendly City” of Belleville.  Here, a young woman, named Ellen, became a random victim of a planned swarming.  During the attack, she was thrown to the ground and viciously kicked in the head many times by a gang of drunken teenagers.  Her injuries were severe enough to dislocate her jaw, rip her facial skin open, and give her a very bad whiplash.

The young woman herself was not “the” designated target.  This swarming was planned to be executed on anyone who was deemed to be vulnerable and innocent by a gang of kids – teenagers who had been drinking heavily and taking drugs.  They were looking for any available random victim who they could “kick the shit out of”, just “for kicks”.  Not only did the gang kick this poor victim senseless, one of the attackers also videotaped the event on his cell phone, showing the young woman being grabbed and thrown down, hearing her screams for mercy, and the obscene and profane language of her attackers as they kicked her.  The primary attackers were, amazingly enough, 2 young girls.

The videotape made by the youth who had been involved in the attack was then posted on YouTube and FaceBook  for the world to view.  As if this series of events was not enough, however, calls, which were made to 911 by 2 different witnesses, went unanswered by police.  The cops simply never showed up.  Apparently, a “serious assault” was happening elsewhere at the same time, and the police were “too busy” dealing with that incident.  They had obviously decided not to spend their precious time on a swarming victim.  In addition, no press release was ever made to the Belleville Intelligencer, a local newspaper, about either the swarming attack or the “serious assault”, which had involved a stabbing.  Ellen, who was only 22, was treated by police as if the trauma that would change her life completely, meant absolutely nothing to law enforcement authorities.  She was left alone to deal with the terrible aftermath.  That meant seeing a specialist in Ottawa, back and forth on a continuing basis, to deal with her dislocated jaw and whiplash.  Her medical bills were closing in on $5,000 and she had to wear a dental appliance to support her jaw.  Those were just her physical injuries, but the emotional toll it took also had to be dealt with.  More than likely, this young woman would never know why she had become the “chosen” random victim.  She had always been a good and caring person her whole life, but life, as she knew it, had now changed forever. 


The short story, which serves as Part 2 of this story, describes what happened after this swarming incident was reported to the police by 5 different people – people who had no reason to lie about anything. It was extremely unfortunate, and maybe a sign of the times that the police were cynical (to say the least) and did not take anything that was reported about Ellen's attack seriously. The question is: why didn't they?

published by Authorhouse, copyright 2011, Anne Shier.  All rights reserved.