Regina man struck in head with toilet tank lid in nightclub assault

Gabbo's Nightclub is shown in an Google Street View image. (Google)

WARNING: This story contains a graphic image depicting an injury.

A 25-year-old man is recovering in a Regina hospital after an apparently unprovoked attack where he was hit in the head with a toilet tank lid in a nightclub washroom, according to his mother.

CTV News has agreed not to use the mother's name or the name of the assault victim due to safety concerns.

When her son tumbled bleeding from the washroom at Gabbo's Nightclub, the response of many patrons was to hold up their phones to presumably take photos and videos, she said.

One woman rushed over to help stop the bleeding from a gaping wound in his neck when someone affiliated with Gabbo’s began "slapping" the raised phones down, the man's mother said.

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Despite all the phones at the ready, she says it was her son who ultimately managed to call 911 for help.

The assault happened just before 3 a.m. Saturday, according to police.The man's mother said the attack was sudden and unprovoked.

A photo provided by the family man who was assaulted at Gabbo's Nightclub in Regina on March 4, 2023 shows a neck injury he sustained. (Provided)

"This guy went and got the toilet tank lid and hit him over the head," she said.

"He made it out into Gabbo’s and everyone was screaming, blood was spurting out of his neck and here are all these people around that were getting their phones out," she said.

According to police, when officers arrived at the club on the 2300 block of Dewdney Avenue, they found her son with injuries to his head and neck. He was taken to hospital by paramedics for treatment.

The man's mother learned of the attack roughly an hour later when she received a phone call.

Her main worry was the head trauma her son experienced from the toilet tank lid crashing down.

"Being hit over the head with a toilet tank lid. That was the main concern also because if you can have problems that way with blood building up," she said.

Police have asked for public assistance in locating her son's alleged attacker, a man — also thought to be around 25 years old — with brown hair and a large build who was reportedly wearing black clothing.

As the man who was attacked recovers in hospital, his mother is hoping someone comes forward with information.

"Who would do this? [My son] didn't even know him," she said.

"It's just absolutely upsetting, horrendous, sickening, angry that people do this to [one] another."