A Hamilton woman is shaken up after she and her bandmate were attacked by a group of youth outside Lime Ridge Mall.

Elizabeth Saucier, a recording artist who goes by the name Sinclair, said she and her guitarist were leaving the mall Tuesday evening when a young person, who was standing around on the sidewalk with a group of others, bumped into her, hard enough to cause her to stumble into the roadway.

She said she yelled at the youth to stop blocking the sidewalk and kept walking, but they began following her to her car, and the verbal altercation continued.

Const. Jerome Stewart said Hamilton police are investigating an assault that took place at Lime Ridge Mall around 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday. He said two victims were assaulted by a group of youth in the parking lot on the west side of the mall.

He said a female victim was bumped and a verbal altercation took place.

Sinclair said one of the youth came up to her, and she stopped and turned toward him. She said he grabbed her arm, ripping an ice cream out of her hand and throwing it on the ground. This prompted her bandmate to defend her, she said.

"Immediately he got swarmed by four of them, and they were all punching, kicking," she said.

She started beating the group with her purse, and when she looked up, she said she saw the youth who grabbed her arm — who was not part of the fight — pull a knife out of his pocket.

"As soon as I saw the knife, I sort of lunged for him," she said. "All I had was my purse, but I was going for him.

"As soon as I moved towards him, he saw my face and he saw my eyes and he freaked out and he turned and ran."

Stewart would not comment on the number of youth involved or their ages or whether one of the youth brandished a knife.

Sinclair said the incident came to an end when two bystanders came and separated the group.

While her bandmate was on the phone with 911, the youth drove by in a car, she said. She said her bandmate suffered minor injuries, including a concussion and lacerations.

Stewart said police don't have anyone in custody but have established "some very strong leads" from reviewing security video, as well as from co-operative victims and witnesses.

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