Police seek to identify suspect in noxious substance assault at Kingston Fall Fair

After a fight between youths escalated at the Kingston Fall Fair and a noxious substance was sprayed into the crowds, Kingston Police are looking for public assistance to help identify the suspect behind the assault.

The incident occurred on the night of Saturday, Sept. 17, 2022, just before the Fall Fair was winding down for the day. At approximately 10 p.m., Kingston Police responded to multiple calls for service from the Kingston Memorial Centre grounds, which are home to the Kingston Fall Fair annually.

“Police had been advised that a group of teenagers had been fighting with each other in the area of the large Ferris wheel, on fair grounds, when one of the involved parties began spraying a noxious substance, in the form of bear spray or mace, at other parties involved,” Kingston Police said in a press release on Monday, Sept. 19, 2022.

At that point, “other attendees of the fair were inadvertently struck and/or affected by the noxious spray,” police said. Those at the event reported multiple people coughing, some uncontrollably, including children, as well as people panicking to evacuate the area. According to police, “no permanent injuries were sustained as a result of this assault,” however, multiple people were treated by Frontenac Paramedic Services and Kingston Fire and Rescue at the scene.

Now, police are asking the public for any information that may help in identifying the person suspected of spraying the noxious substance. According to Kingston Police, witnesses described the suspect as being a male youth. At the time of the incident, he was wearing a black or grey tracksuit with possibly a hoodie pulled up or a face mask, which obscured his face, and may have been wearing red shoes, police said.

While unrelated to the incident, Kingston Police did arrest another youth at the Fall Fair that night.

“This youth was involved in the incident, but the arrest was unrelated to the attack,” Kingston Police said.

Anyone with information regarding the identity of the individual responsible for this attack with a noxious substance is asked to please contact Kingston Police at 613-549-4660.

In response to inquiries from Kingstonist about the arrest that did take place, Kingston Police said the arrest was not the result of a warrant, but rather simply due to a separate charge. “We will not be speaking to this charge, as the parties involved knew each other and providing what they were charged with would unwittingly therefore identify why this youth [was] arrested,” Const. Ash Gutheinz, Media Relations Officer for Kingston Police said.