Calgary police search for woman in suspected hate-motivated verbal attack on teen girls

Calgary police say they are trying to find a woman who's believed to be involved in the hate-motivated harassment of two teenagers on a bus.

Police say that two 13-year-old girls were travelling around 8:30 p.m. last Thursday to a community in southwest Calgary from the Somerset-Bridlewood light-rail transit station.

They say the girls were approached by an unknown woman who was speaking aggressively and yelling racial slurs at them.

Const. Matt Messenger says harassment won't be tolerated in the city.

He says it was completely unprovoked and left the two teenagers scared and upset.

Messenger says it's believed the girls were racially targeted.

"Every Calgarian has the right to feel safe in our city while using public transit," he said in a statement Wednesday. "We are asking anyone who witnessed this incident or who has information about the suspect to come forward."

Police say the woman, who's thought to be around 30, stands about five-four with a slim build and light-coloured hair.