VANCOUVER — Two people were stabbed and a suspect was killed by police in downtown Vancouver Wednesday, the latest act of violence to shake the city and intensifying pressure on elected officials to address public safety.
According to Vancouver police, officers were called at 11:34 a.m. Wednesday to a restaurant near Robson and Hamilton streets, where a man allegedly had stolen alcohol and was armed with a knife.
When police arrived, they found the armed suspect at a nearby 7-Eleven, across from the Vancouver Public Library’s central branch.
“The suspect was shot by police and taken into custody,” Const. Tania Visintin said. “VPD officers and other first responders administered first aid to the suspect, who was taken to hospital and later died.”
Two other individuals were stabbed prior to the shooting.
“Residents in Vancouver are sick of this crap,” said Mayor Ken Sim in the aftermath, pointing the finger at federal politicians and accusing them of inaction bail reform for repeat offenders. “It’s bullshit.”
The incident was captured on video by a number of bystanders in the area. One video showed police aiming their guns over the counter of the convenience store and firing several times.
A stun gun held by an officer appeared to have already been fired, with the wires trailing over the counter.
“Move over, right now. Move over,” one officer shouts at the unseen suspect before gunfire is heard.
Another video shows two people being wheeled away on stretchers, as a firefighter performed chest compressions on one of them.
Mainul Islam, a student and part-time delivery worker who captured the scene on video, said he was stopped by police from entering the store before witnessing the shooting of a man he described as “homeless.”
According to a woman who answered the phone at the nearby Stella Nails at 330 Robson St., the salon was placed under lockdown with no one permitted in or out.
She said they saw a woman who appeared injured outside the salon. The person then also heard what sounded like gunshots and saw a person they believed to be the suspect lying on the ground.
One witness spoke to CBC Wednesday and said they saw a man trying to steal cigarettes inside the shop just before the stabbing.
Hours after the stabbings, the public looked on from behind the yellow police tape at Robson and Hamilton while police focused their investigation on the 7-Eleven.
Inside, a number of evidence markers could be seen on the bloody floor.
The Independent Investigations Office of B.C., which reviews police cases involving injury or death, has been notified.
The incident took place just blocks from where another violent stabbing took place earlier this fall.
On Sept. 4, Vancouver police responded to the area of Dunsmuir and Richards street where a man had been attacked with a knife, was bleeding from his head and his left hand had been severed.
Minutes later, officers were called to the Queen Elizabeth Theatre near West Georgia and Hamilton, where another man had been fatally stabbed.
Brendon Colin McBride, a White Rock resident, was charged with one count of second-degree murder and one count of aggravated assault.
Wednesday’s stabbing reignited concerns that politicians aren’t moving fast enough to deal with crime in the downtown core.
Annette O’Shea, executive director of the Yaletown Business Improvement Association, said she hopes Premier David Eby is “listening and paying attention.”
“I think the streets of Vancouver and the streets of British Columbia very, very much need involuntary treatment. I think this is a sign of politicians taking too long to take action,” she said. “It’s something the business community has been asking for.
“I think it’s why this government has managed to get back into power. But they need to move faster,” she said, citing the B.C. NDP’s narrow win in the provincial election.
- With files from Tiffany Crawford, Kim Bolan, Alec Lazenby, and The Canadian Press.
