Police are investigating two separate stabbing incidents in Montreal’s Chinatown neighbourhood that occurred less than 12 hours apart on the same street.
In the first incident, a possible altercation between two individuals at St-Urbain and de la Gauchetière streets was reported to police at around 11 p.m.
Officers found a 42-year-old man with serious injuries to his lower body.
He was taken to hospital in critical condition.
Montreal police spokesperson Julien Lévesque said the man’s condition remained critical but stable as of Wednesday morning.
No arrests have been made.
The second incident happened just a block away on de la Gauchetière and Clarke streets.
Police were called to the area at 7:15 a.m. to reports of an injured man.
Lévesque said officers found a 36-year-old man who injured to the upper body.
The wounds, he said, appeared to have been caused by a sharp object.
The victim was conscious during his transport to hospital and medical authorities confirmed to police they did not fear for his life.
A 42-year-old man was arrested nearby and taken to a detention centre for questioning.
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Chinatown safety concerns
Just last week, Chinatown residents and merchants raised safety concerns over increasing drug use and criminality in the area.
Of particular concern is an encampment on Brady Street, a small alley between Clarke and St-Urbain streets, that residents say was once a small park but is now a focal point for drug use.
During a Friday press conference, business owners called on the city and police to do more to curb the problem, with some unhoused people in the neighbourhood also expressing fears for their safety linked to drug consumption.
At the time, police said that they were still gathering facts about the location and that residents should turn to local police station 21 if needed.
Police told Global News in a statement that cohabitation is a priority, and that people in the area can count on teams like the mobile reference and intervention team on homelessness, the psychosocial emergency support team and their community coordination and outreach team.
— with files From Global News’s Phil Carpenter and Matilda Cerone
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