Two victims stabbed, suspect shot dead by police in downtown Vancouver attack

Article content

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 intensify pressure on elected officials to address public safety.

Article content

Article content

Article content

According to Vancouver police, officers were called at 11:34 a.m. Wednesday to an Original Joe’s 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,” according to Const. Tania Visintin. “VPD officers and other first responders administered first aid to the suspect, who was taken to hospital and later died.”

Two people were stabbed before the police 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 on bail reform for repeat offenders. “It’s bullshit.”

Article content

The incident was captured on video by a number of bystanders in the area. One showed police aiming their guns over the counter of the convenience store and firing about 10 shots soon after the Taser was deployed.

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.

“One of the kitchen guys came out, asked if he could help him, and the guy grabbed the knife and asked him if he wanted to die,” said Kylie Noel, who was working at the Original Joe’s. Her co-worker then told her to call police.

Article content

Noel said that before the shooting, a man came into the restaurant and stood by the door, opened a laptop computer and “demanded a glass of water.” Noel said she refused, and went back to tell kitchen staff that the man was refusing to leave.

She said he had left by the time other workers came out, but Noel then saw him outside with a bottle of alcohol she believed was stolen, which she later confirmed by watching security camera footage.

When Noel returned to the restaurant’s main floor, the man was again behind the bar, and Noel ran back down to tell her colleagues in the kitchen. She said that was when the man grabbed the knife and threatened her co-worker.

Noel said she ran into a neighbouring hotel lobby and stayed on the phone with police as she described the man.

Article content

Andrew Cecil works at the Rosedale Hotel near the shooting scene and said he walked over to the 7-Eleven after the man had left Original Joe’s.

Cecil said the man went behind the counter and cornered an employee while a manager tried to calm things down as the man swung the knife around. He said police showed up soon after and deployed a Taser, which “didn’t seem to affect him,” before the shots were fired.

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.”

He said officers were there within minutes and “just shot this guy.”

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.

Article content

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.

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.

“One of the kitchen guys came out, asked if he could help him, and the guy grabbed the knife and asked him if he wanted to die,” said Kylie Noel, who was working at the Original Joe’s. Her co-worker then told her to call police.

Visintin said the Independent Investigations Office of B.C. (IIO), which reviews police cases involving injury or death, has been notified.

Article content

The IIO is asking witnesses and anyone with video footage to call its tip line at 1-855-446-8477 or make a statement at iiobc.ca.

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.

Article content

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.

O’Shea praised the VPD for their speed in both containing the situation and notifying the business community once there was no longer a threat to public safety.

Article content

“We’ve been asking for a faster response from the VPD and faster communications, and I’m really happy that they’ve done that,” she said.

O’Shea also mentioned Terry Yung, a former VPD officer who was elected in October as the NDP MLA for Vancouver-Yaletown and is now minister of state for public safety.

“He said he’d be reaching out to the business community. He said we matter. Yeah, we are coming into the busiest weekend we’ve had since the 2010 Olympic Games. Show us that we matter,” she said.

Asked how he planned to address the violence, Yung said: “Everyone should feel safe in the neighbourhood. And obviously we, you know, I’ve been talking to some community groups … continue to make my rounds and to make sure that I talk to a lot of groups.”

Article content

Vancouver’s mayor blasted the federal government, saying “it’s been crickets” since a September meeting where a group of B.C. mayors, First Nations leaders and law enforcement officials made a united call for reforming the bail system for repeat offenders, along with other measures.

“The federal government needs to step up, or at least have a conversation with us,” Sim said at Vancouver police headquarters. “Their responsibility is to help us out because we don’t have the jurisdiction.”

Sim said it isn’t just those in Vancouver who were fed up, but “residents of this entire country.”

“The federal government, we need them to come to the table, or just tell the country they’re not serious about this, and they’re going to do nothing about it, and then we’ll deal with it,” he said.

Article content

“But don’t waste our time and don’t tell people that you’re going to deal with the issue.”

B.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad said the province needs to ensure the court system has the resources to function properly, including more sheriffs and more judges.

“If this is a prolific offender, and if the courts will not keep them off our streets, then we should be using the Mental Health Act,” he said.

“We need to strengthen the Mental Health Act so that these people who are at risk of harming themselves or others can be held and treated and not be released until they’re no longer a risk.”

The downtown violence came just two days before a busy weekend as Taylor Swift fans arrive for a trio of concerts.

O’Shea reassured citizens that they should not be afraid to visit Yaletown this weekend, citing the additional 700 police officers who would be patrolling the streets.

With files from Tiffany Crawford, Joseph Ruttle, Kim Bolan, Alec Lazenby and The Canadian Press

sip@postmedia.com

Article content