One suspect is in custody after a stabbing spree in downtown Vancouver’s CRAB Park, police say.
Police said officers were on a routine patrol in the CRAB Park area around 3 a.m. Saturday when two victims fleeing the homeless camp there approached for help.
Around the same time, a victim from inside the park called police to report that a man was stabbing people inside the homeless camp.
“As victims and bystanders fled, police officers converged on CRAB Park, locating a third badly injured victim within the encampment and arresting the 42-year-old suspect as he attempted to leave the area,” said Sgt. Steve Addison.
“The suspect was arrested for attempted murder and remains in custody.”
Addison added that investigators believe the stabbings were unprovoked, and the suspect is believed to be a encampment resident.
Police said three victims — a man in his 30s, a man in his 40s, and an unidentified man — suffered various serious injuries, including stab wounds and punctured organs.
Investigators said there may be more victims that they are not aware of, as there were reports of victims fleeing during the incident.
Two of the victims remain in hospital with life-threatening injuries, according to police.
Investigators said the stabbings were not random and the suspect and victims knew each other.
Police also said that a number of violent crimes were reported downtown overnight and into early Saturday.
“The CRAB Park stabbings were among a series of violent crimes around the Downtown Eastside Friday night,” said Addison, “including an altercation near East Hastings and Campbell Avenue that left an 18-year-old man with serious injuries, and a stabbing near West Hastings and Cambie Street that left a 48-year-old man with life-threatening injuries.”
Anyone with information about any of these incidents is asked to call the Vancouver Police Department’s Major Crime Section at 604-717-2541.