Close X
Friday, November 29, 2024
ADVT 
National

Vancouver Man Afraid Of Retaliation After Stabbing

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 20 Apr, 2015 04:41 PM
    VANCOUVER — A Vancouver man slashed in the head outside a church — in an attack that led to a suspect being shot dead by police — says he's having nightmares and isn't getting enough support.
     
    Kathiye Elmi, 40, lifts his hat to reveal stitches on his head and recalls the violent scuffle.
     
    "He came after me. And then I faced him. I don't want him to stab me in the back," Elmi told reporters Monday.
     
    "Everybody screamed, 'Watch out the knife!"
     
    Police have said a man was wildly stabbing people two weeks ago outside the First United Church in the city's impoverished Downtown Eastside.
     
    Officers first shot him with bean bags, but he turned his knife on a woman.
     
    An officer then fired his gun. Abdi Hirsi, 26, of Edmonton died at the scene.
     
    The woman was seriously injured in the attack, but now is out of hospital. Two others were also wounded.
     
    Elmi said he was interviewed by as many as five police officers after the attack, but hasn't been helped by victims' services.
     
    "I'm speaking out, (because) I thought I'm living in a safe country — a place I came to have a good life, not to get stabbed," said Elmi, who immigrated from Mogadishu 22 years ago.
     
    "I need more protection and I need a life."
     
    Jean Hakizimana, who founded the black advocacy group Neighbourhood Care International, said he's reached out to city and provincial officials on Elmi's behalf, but hasn't received support. He didn't specify whom he had contacted.
     
    He alleged that language barriers, skin colour and poverty are hurdles in getting the man adequate care.
     
    "We are looking for an office or a place ... (where) a black man and African man can go and cry," Hakizimana said.
     
    "It's not very easy to be a black man in Vancouver. Especially when you have don't have a job, a family."
     
    Elmi also has a criminal record for assault and theft convictions. He said he was fighting in self-defence and stole a keg of beer.
     
    A Vancouver police spokesman wouldn't comment about a victim of any crime. But Sgt. Randy Fincham said a person's race and background would not be factors.
     
    "They would be treated first and foremost as a victim," he said in an email.
     
    The Vancouver police victims' services website says officers at the scene of a crime typically refer people to victims' support, but an individual can also call.
     
    A spokesman for the province's justice ministry said it would not publicly discuss any case for privacy reasons. It lists 160 victims' service programs throughout the province and notes a toll-free, 24-hour hotline provided in 110 languages.

    MORE National ARTICLES

    Big Box Shopping Centres Will Need To Reinvent Themselves, Planners Say

    Big Box Shopping Centres Will Need To Reinvent Themselves, Planners Say
    TORONTO — The recent closures of Future Shop and Target stores highlight a conundrum that's got urban planners and real estate experts talking.

    Big Box Shopping Centres Will Need To Reinvent Themselves, Planners Say

    Some Major Events In The History Of Future Shop

    Some Major Events In The History Of Future Shop
    Future Shop closed its Canadian stores on Saturday. Here is a list of major events in the history of the retail chain.

    Some Major Events In The History Of Future Shop

    Study Uncovers Why Students At Canadian Private High Schools Enjoy Academic Edge

    Study Uncovers Why Students At Canadian Private High Schools Enjoy Academic Edge
    TORONTO — Students attending private high schools do better academically than their public schools counterparts because of socio-economic factors and peers who tend to have university-educated parents, according to a Statistics Canada study released Tuesday.

    Study Uncovers Why Students At Canadian Private High Schools Enjoy Academic Edge

    Conservatives Studying Anti-terrorism Bill Reject Opposition Changes

    Conservatives Studying Anti-terrorism Bill Reject Opposition Changes
    OTTAWA — The Conservatives have used their majority on the House of Commons public safety committee to vote down the first wave of opposition amendments to the federal anti-terrorism bill.

    Conservatives Studying Anti-terrorism Bill Reject Opposition Changes

    Ontario's Deficit Now At $10.9 Billion, Lower Than Projected $12.5 Billion: Sousa

    The revised deficit figure, announced Tuesday by Finance Minister Charles Sousa, is lower than the previously projected $12.5 billion, but critics and opposition leaders remain skeptical about the Liberal government's ability to balance the books in two years, as promised.

    Ontario's Deficit Now At $10.9 Billion, Lower Than Projected $12.5 Billion: Sousa

    Medical Community Skeptical About Ontario's Move To Regulate Homeopaths

    Medical Community Skeptical About Ontario's Move To Regulate Homeopaths
    TORONTO — Ontario's move to regulate the field of homeopathy in a way similar to how it governs doctors and nurses, making it the first province to do so, is being greeted with skepticism from some in the medical and scientific community.

    Medical Community Skeptical About Ontario's Move To Regulate Homeopaths