An assault on a popular city soccer field that reportedly left a man with stab wounds is being investigated by Vancouver police.
The incident unfolded shortly after 4 p.m. on Saturday at Trillium Field while a soccer match was underway. A portion of the encounter was captured on video.
“Somebody wandered on to the field uninvited, so I had to stop the game and I asked, ‘What are you doing,’ and he was really kind of incoherent,” referee Dieter Trenkel told Global News, adding that the man asked for help.
Trenkel said three more men walked onto the field towards the man, at which point things escalated rapidly.
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“(One of them) pulled a knife out of his jacket, a six, seven-inch switch knife,” he said.
“They assaulted that gentleman that first came on the field, they knocked him down and they were stomping on him and punching at him, then the fellow that brought out the knife, he went over and started stabbing at the guy.”
Trenkel yelled at spectators to stay back, to call 9-1-1 and to record the incident on video.
He then ran to the aid of the victim. In video footage of the incident, Trenkel can be seen running towards the assault and shoving one of the attackers.
“I just saw the guy was being beat on by three people and no one else there was going to help, so I just reacted, I just went out there.”
Vancouver police confirmed they are investigating the incident, and have not yet identified any suspects.
Police could not confirm the victim was stabbed, but said he was not seriously injured.
“We don’t know exactly what precipitated this,” Sgt. Steve Addison said. “Obviously, (it was) a very concerning incident to have happen in the middle of a soccer field.”
Trenkel told Global News he didn’t think twice about running to the man’s aid, though his wife has told him he was “crazy” and that in retrospect, the attackers could have returned at the end of the game.
He added the brazenness of the attack raises concerns about crime in the city.
“I was surprised that this happened in front of so many people,” he said. “Like, has this city gone that far?”