VANCOUVER Police are investigating after four people were stabbed in separate incidents during a 10-hour span overnight.
Two of the stabbings happened in the Downtown Eastside, while the others occurred in the West End and in the city’s Killarney neighbourhood.
“These are all very serious incidents that strained the capacity of our frontline first responders,” said Constable Tania Visintin on Saturday. “With assistance from our Forensic Identification Unit and Major Crime Section, we are continuing to collect evidence that will hopefully lead us to solve each of these crimes.”
Officers were first called around 10 p.m. on Friday to a home near Boundary Road and East 45 Avenue for a victim who later died of his stab wounds in what is now the city’s fifth homicide of 2023.
Moments later, officers in the Downtown Eastside responded after a 44-year-old man arrived at hospital with serious stab wounds. The investigation is still in the early stages, but it is believed the incident happened between Gore Street and Dunlevy Avenue. The suspect has not been identified.
Three hours later, at 1:30 a.m. on Saturday, officers working in the downtown core responded to a 9-1-1 call about a person being assaulted just south of Davie Village, near Harwood and Burrard streets. Officers found a 36-year-old man suffering multiple stab wounds. A suspect has not been identified.
Finally, around 6:30 a.m. on Saturday morning, staff at a shelter near Hastings and Carrall streets called VPD to report a man in his forties had been stabbed. The suspect in that case was still on scene and was arrested by responding officers. The victim’s injuries are not life-threatening.
The four cases do not appear connected, and they each remain under investigation. Anyone with information about these incidents is asked to call police.