One Dead, 2 Injured After Stabbing Incident in Downtown Vancouver

Vancouver Police officers are shown aiming their guns over the counter of a convenience store in Vancouver on Dec. 4, 2024, in this still taken from handout video. The Canadian Press/HO — Mainul Islam

One person is dead and two others injured after a stabbing incident in downtown Vancouver on Dec. 4, police say.

The Vancouver Police Department (VPD) said a 911 call was received from an Original Joe’s restaurant around 11:30 a.m. local time reporting a man who was armed with a knife had stolen alcohol.

Police found the alleged suspect inside a 7-Eleven store in the area, VPD spokesperson Constable Tania Visintin told reporters around 4:30 p.m.

“The suspect was then shot by police,” she said.

Police and first responders attempted life-saving measures on the suspect, who later died in hospital, Visintin said.

Two others were injured in the incident, she said.

“One person has been stabbed and the other person is injured. We’re still waiting back to hear from medical professionals on the extent of their injuries and how those injuries occurred,” she said.

The individuals are not believed to have life-threatening injuries.

VPD posted about the incident around noon local time on the X platform, saying, “Vancouver Police are responding to a violent incident near Robson and Hamilton.”

Video obtained by The Canadian Press showed officers aiming their guns inside a 7-Eleven convenience store in the area and firing at least 10 times.

“Move over, right now. Move over,” one officer shouts at the unseen suspect before gunfire is heard.

An eyewitness, Mainul Islam, who captured the scene on video, said he was stopped by police before going into the 7-Eleven.

He described the suspect who was shot by police as homeless.

Another video posted by a user on X showed paramedics taking someone away from the area on a stretcher. One of the medics was doing chest compressions on the individual.

The area has numerous shops and restaurants, as well as a private high school located about half a block from the store where the incident took place.

The Epoch Times contacted Vancouver Police for more information but did not hear back by publication time.

Conservative Party of B.C. Leader John Rustad commented on the incident in a Dec. 4 post on X.

“My heart goes out to the victims of this horrific attack in Downtown Vancouver,” Rustad said in the post. “We need emergency measures to stop violent attacks now — BC & Federal Governments must take immediate and concrete action.”

The incident comes less than two weeks after another stabbing incident in the city.

On Nov. 23, police responded to calls about a 63-year-old man who was seriously injured in a stabbing by a suspected shoplifter. The incident occurred around 10:30 p.m. in the Olympic Village, according to a VPD news release.

The victim had been trying to help a store security officer stop a shoplifter from leaving a liquor store in the area of Manitoba Street and 1st Avenue. The man was said to need immediate medical care, which police provided.

Security footage showed there were also three accomplices to the crime, the news release said.

Officers found and arrested four suspects shortly after midnight–a 21-year-old man who is believed to have attempted to shoplift, an 18-year-old man, and two 16-year-old girls.

On Sept. 4, Vancouver police arrested a suspect in a pair of “unprovoked stranger attacks” in the city’s downtown that left one man dead and another with a severed hand. The suspect was on probation for a 2023 assault and had more than 60 previous police interactions.

The Canadian Press contributed to this report.