A 57-year-old Vancouver woman is in stable condition in hospital, and a 42-year-old Vancouver man has been charged with attempted murder after allegedly attacking the woman as she was waiting at a crosswalk.
Vancouver Police say at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 15, the woman was waiting to cross Hastings Street, between Abbott and Carrall, when she was attacked from behind a stranger. The man punched the woman in the head, knocked her to the ground, stabbed her and left her bleeding on the sidewalk.
Corey Rockl, a witness to the attack, said she saw the man walk up to the woman and then stab her in the back. “It was pretty brutal, I’d never seen anything like that,” she said. “I’ve worked down here for a long time now, and yeah, it was nuts.”
She said many people rushed to the woman’s aid immediately and others took off after the man.
A passing driver saw what happened and was able to follow the attacker as he walked east on Hastings Street. Police say the witness was able to provide police with a description of the suspect, which led to his arrest a short distance away.
When the police were trying to arrest the man, the suspect then began to fight with them, forcefully kicking one officer and attempting to take the firearm from another. He was restrained by officers and taken to the Vancouver City jail.
John Gordon Paterson has now been charged with attempted murder, assaulting a police officer and attempting to disarm a police officer.
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