Suspect in deadly Vancouver stranger attacks was on probation: VPD chief

VANCOUVER — The suspect in a pair of “unprovoked stranger assaults” in downtown Vancouver that left one man dead and another with a severed hand on Wednesday morning was on probation for a 2023 assault and had 60 previous police interactions, Vancouver’s police chief said.

Chief Const. Adam Palmer said the “very troubled” suspect, who was arrested less than two hours later, was a 34-year-old White Rock man, and police were looking into whether mental health was a factor in the “horrific” attacks.

“I know that many people in our city and beyond are troubled by what has happened today,” Palmer told a news conference with Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim.

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 across from the CityMarket grocery store, with a bloody white towel on the ground.

Palmer said the suspect, who had a “lengthy history of mental health related incidents,” was tracked down with the help of a police drone operator and arrested at Habitat Island, near the Olympic Village.

He said the 56-year-old victim whose hand was cut off was expected to survive, while police were in trying to identify the man killed near the theatre, who was believed to be about 70 years old.

The police chief said he didn’t believe the suspect was breaching his “light” probation conditions by being in Vancouver, and that police believed the early morning attacks were completely random.

He said such crimes “cause everyone to fear for their safety,” but while it was disturbing, such incidents were rare and crime was trending down in the city.

“Vancouver is not dying, Vancouver is not dead,” he said. “Vancouver’s not unsafe. That’s all hyperbole, and it’s not actually factual. (In) any big city in Canada or North America, there will be shootings and stabbings and acts of violence, and this will not be the last one.

“No city in North America could ever purport to not have any more crimes. So there will be more violent crime that happens in the city the size of Vancouver,” he added.

Palmer said he had “serious concerns” that earlier charges for violent crimes had been stayed against the suspect, who he said had a history of assaulting police officers and health care workers.

Palmer said the “revolving door of justice” needed to stop, and suspects charged with serious crimes should be kept in custody.

“We also need more mental health supports in (the) community. We need more addiction supports in (the) community, and we need more help dealing with the upstream drivers so that these folks are not coming into contact with police at the tail end of the equation,” he said.

He said he was not naming the suspect because charges had yet to be laid.

Sim called the attacks “tragic and deeply unsettling,” while B.C. Premier David Eby said at an unrelated event that it was “a disheartening moment.”

“We make so much progress on driving down stranger attacks and reducing violent offences in our province and then something like this happens and it shakes people’s confidence again in a really profound way, and understandably,” Eby said.

Eby said he was being kept up to date on the case by Solicitor General Mike Farnworth.

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 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.

Palmer declined to describe the dead man’s injuries.

Just after 9 a.m. the suspect was located on Habitat Island, after reports “that a man behaving erratically had approached a stranger and began yelling at him.”

“I applaud the witnesses who called police immediately and provided timely information,” Palmer said in the statement. “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.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 4, 2024.

Darryl Greer, The Canadian Press