A City of Nanaimo employee is recovering after being stabbed with syringes in a park on Tuesday morning, police say.
Nanaimo RCMP said the 58-year-old man went to use the public washroom at Maffeo-Sutton Park in downtown Nanaimo when he was attacked by two people wielding syringes.
The worker suffered wounds to his face and abdomen, police said.
Const. Sherri Wade with Nanaimo RCMP’s intimate partner violence unit said police are not able to say how many times the victim was stabbed but they “know it was a lot.
“We won’t be able to confirm until we get the medical records, which the victim has agreed to supply to us. And that will give us a detailed account of the wounds and where they are,” she said.
The suspects fled but the man provided a detailed statement to police before he was transported to Nanaimo Regional Hospital.
It is unclear at this time what led to the altercation, police added.
One suspect was described as a man, five-feet 10-inches tall, with a red beard and wearing a red coat, jeans and a large medallion around his neck.
The second suspect was described as a man with dark hair, and wearing dark clothes. Police say he also suffered facial injuries during the attack.
Sandra Miller, who used to work at the Nanaimo Hospital, told Global News that she used to feel safe in the city.
She said that has changed in the last few years and would like to see the government get more involved.
“The police I’m just in total admiration for,” Miller said.
Kevin Shaw, vice president of the Nanaimo Area Public Safety Association, told Global News that when he heard about the attack on Tuesday morning, it made him sad and angry.
“It hit me in the gut, made me sad, and actually brings tears to my eyes because this is in broad daylight where families, men, children should feel safe,” he said.
Shaw said he is looking around corners and not venturing out at night as much due to safety concerns.
“We’ve held our protest. We held our rallies asking the NDP government to finally use some of the Mental Health Act and set up involuntary care for people that need help but won’t go into housing on their own, that are mentally ill,” he added.
B.C. Premier David Eby said before the election campaign that the province would open secure facilities to provide involuntary care under the Mental Health Act for those with severe addictions who are mentally ill.
Eby pledged the NDP would change the law in the next legislative session to “provide clarity and ensure that people, including youth, can and should receive care when they are unable to seek it themselves.”
“He said that very night during his acceptance speech that he heard voters loud and clear in British Columbia that they want change because they want public safety,” Shaw said. “It’s now two months later and nothing has been done.”
Wade said police know that random acts of violence are scary.
“Random violence against strangers is very uncommon,” she said. “The majority of crimes we investigate are assaults or crimes against people who know the person who did it to them. So random assaults just make us feel very unsafe.”
Wade recommended that people using public bathrooms check inside them first and determine if it feels like a safe environment.
The police ask anyone who may have witnessed the incident at Maffeo Sutton or who has information about the suspects to contact the Nanaimo RCMP at (250)-754-2345.