An attack with a machete in the Granville Street area of Downtown Vancouver sent four victims to hospital Saturday night.
One of the victims spoke about the incident on Sunday. He said the suspect lives across the hall from his apartment.
“I heard a pop and an explosion. I went into the hallway and it smelled like gasoline,” said Cecil Cochrane.
VPD did confirm a man set his suite on fire inside a rooming house near Granville and Smithe streets.
“I was locking my door when he hit me in the head from behind and I went down to one knee. He hit me again with the machete and then I grabbed it,” Cochrane said. “We started fighting, rolling around on the ground.”
Cochrane said it seemed like the man was trying to kill him.
“He was trying to stab me in the throat, so I was trying to hold the knife away.”
Cochrane said the police arrived mid fight.
“Cops yelled at him to let go of the knife, he sat up and went towards the police and that’s when the cops shot him twice. When the shots were fired, I dove into an office.”
Police have confirmed officers confronted a machete-wielding man in the Granville Street area, which led to shots being fired by VPD officers. Cochrane described the suspect as roughly 50-years-old and a heavy set man.
“I’m feeling sore and just grateful to be alive,” Cochrane said. “He chopped me in the head three times, and also my back and my neck.”
Cochrane’s injuries were apparent. He was sporting a neck brace with at least 20 staples on the back of his head.
Police said there were four victim, and that some remain in hospital with “life-altering injuries.”
VPD’s major crime sections as well as the Independent Investigations Office of B.C. are now investigating.
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