BACK STORY: Last Saturday, Shannon Barry was brutally attacked and kicked in the face so violently that she was knocked unconscious for five minutes. She suffered a crushed left eye socket, broken jaw and facial nerve damage and subsequently had surgery to implant two plates in her face. Incredulously, the officer on the scene failed to follow standard departmental procedures as he did NOT file a crime report.

UPDATE: Good news and bad news in the assault case of Shannon Barry

The good... in a news briefing earlier today, Edmonton police revealed that they have arrested one of the four alleged assailants. A 14-year-old male was charged with aggravated assault on Friday but due to The Youth Criminal Justice Act he can not be identified. Police are searching for the three other suspects.

The bad... Police told media at the briefing that their investigation determined the April 17th assault on Shannon Barry was "random and that the victim was not specifically targeted," even though witnesses heard the attackers shout "faggots" and "dykes" at Shannon and her friends.

For what it's worth... Edmonton Police Chief Mike Boyd offered an apology to Shannon, saying: “I want to offer my apology to the victim and I also want to offer my apology on behalf of the Edmonton Police Service to the wider minority communities here in the city of Edmonton... This was a breach of policy which lead to the victim being told on Tuesday that there was no record of the incident... The error in judgement made by the responding officer was a mistake and he is genuinely remorseful for that mistake.”

Shannon strongly disagrees... that the violent assault on her was not a hate crime, saying: "Obviously the incident was random, but that doesn't change the fact that they called me a faggot and kicked me in the face... Maybe I don't understand how to define hate crimes, but to me that speaks loud and clear."

I couldn't agree with you more; well said, Shannon.

MORE COVERAGE

• Police finally begin investigation of Shannon Barry assault case
• Lesbian viciously attacked; police failed to file report