A Vancouver Police Department patch is seen in Vancouver on Saturday, Jan. 9, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
Vancouver police say a man has been arrested after a pair of “unprovoked stranger attacks” in the city’s downtown that left one man dead and another with a severed hand.
Chief Constable Adam Palmer said police believed the early morning attacks near the Queen Elizabeth Theatre were “completely random.”
“Attacks like these shake our collective sense of comfort and safety, and we’re grateful that a suspect was quickly taken into custody by our officers,” Palmer said.
Police said in a news release that officers responded to a call at 7:38 a.m. about a man who had been attacked near Cathedral Square, at Richards and Dunsmuir streets.
They said they found a man in his 50s with a severed hand who had been attacked with a knife and was also bleeding from the head.
Officers said that eight minutes later there was a call about an attack on a second man at nearby West Georgia and Hamilton streets, where the theatre is located, and despite efforts to save his life, the victim died at the scene.
The statement said patrol officers obtained images of the suspect, confirmed the two incidents were linked, and began searching for the man.
Just after 9 a.m. a suspect was located on Habitat Island, near the Olympic Village, after reports “that a man behaving erratically had approached a stranger and began yelling at him.”
Police said a 34-year-old White Rock man was arrested.
“I applaud the witnesses who called police immediately and provided timely information,” Palmer said. “I am also extremely proud of the brave VPD officers who responded quickly to tend to the victims, to gather evidence, to arrest the suspect, and to stop this imminent public safety threat.”
Palmer said although “it will take time before we have all of the answers, it does not appear either victim knew the suspect, and we believe these attacks were completely random.”
The gruesome incidents triggered a heavy police presence in downtown Vancouver during the morning rush hour.
A white evidence tent had covered a corner of the plaza in front of the Queen Elizabeth Theatre, with the entire square cordoned off and several police vehicles in attendance, while a section of Homer Street was also blocked.
Police tape surrounded a large pool of blood on Homer Street outside the CityMarket store, with a bloody white towel on the ground.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 4, 2024.
