23. Fears of an Active “Slasher” Shut Down the Halifax Region
Five days after the reported razor attack on two Halifax women, another young woman in the vicinity reported being attacked by a man. It left her with a deep and clean-cut to her wrist, as if from a razor. Despite a clear description of the attacker, police had no luck finding him. When three days later another victim stepped forward, the authorities turned to the public for leads, and the local newspaper carried the headline: “£10 police reward for arrest of Halifax ‘Slasher’“.
The news that there was a “Slasher” on the loose was shocking. It did not take long for mass hysteria and widespread public panic to get its clutches on the good people of Halifax and the surrounding region. Even as Scotland Yard was called in to help the local police, businesses shut down. The panic grew apace as more and more reports, and rumors of reports, all of them unfounded, came pouring of new attacks by the Slasher in nearby towns.
