Witnesses have described a chaotic scene leading up to what officers say were multiple stabbings in downtown Vancouver, before police shot the suspect in a convenience store.
The witnesses say a man stole liquor and a knife from a restaurant then used the weapon across the street to stab people in a 7-Eleven store.
“One of the kitchen guys came out, asked if he could help him, and the guy grabbed the knife and asked him if he wanted to die,” said Kylie Noel, who was working at the Original Joe’s restaurant at Robson and Hamilton streets on Wednesday.
Her co-worker then told her to call police.
Video later captured by Mainul Islam, a student and part-time food delivery worker, shows police pointing their guns over the counter of the 7-Eleven, shouting at someone to "move over," then firing at least 10 times.
Islam said he had been picking up a food order when he saw a "homeless guy" trying to steal cigarettes behind the counter. He said staff were trying to stop the man.
"And he just brought out his knife from his pocket, and he tried to stab … the guy, but he ran away, and then he went to stab that lady. Maybe he already stabbed that lady in the back, I saw blood, but she was OK."
He said the police were there within minutes and "just shot this guy."
Neither Vancouver police nor BC Emergency Health Services responded to requests for information about the condition of the suspect, who police say stabbed "a number of people." Police have not released details about their conditions either.
This serious incident in a very busy area of the City has caused angst and fear. Thankfully, the prompt and efficient work of the Vancouver Police has brought this occurrence to a resolution. My thoughts are with the victims and their loved ones. https://t.co/Z8UsvXDKvd
— Garry Begg (@GarryBeggBC) December 5, 2024
I am aware of the serious incident in Vancouver. Thank you to the @VancouverPD for their quick response and our thoughts are with the people impacted by this event.
— Harjit Sajjan (@HarjitSajjan) December 4, 2024
Another video shows two people being wheeled away on stretchers, with a firefighter performing chest compressions on one of them.
Noel said that before the shooting, a man came into Original Joe's and stood by the restaurant's door, opened a laptop computer and “demanded a glass of water.”
Noel said she refused, and went back to tell kitchen staff that the man was refusing to leave.
She said he had left by the time other workers came out, but Noel then saw him outside with a bottle of alcohol she believed was stolen from the restaurant, which she later confirmed by watching security camera footage.
When Noel returned to the restaurant's main floor, the man was again behind the bar, and Noel ran back down to tell her colleagues in the kitchen. She said that was when the man grabbed the knife and threatened Noel's co-worker.
Noel said she ran into a neighbouring hotel lobby and stayed on the phone with police as she described the man.
She said she watched him walk into the 7-Eleven across the street. “Maybe three minutes later the police showed up,” she said.
In Islam's video of the shooting, a stun gun held by an officer appears to have already been fired, with the wires trailing over the counter inside the convenience store.
"Move over, right now. Move over," one officer shouts at the unseen suspect before gunfire is heard.
After the shooting, a man can be heard saying "Are you OK ma'am?" while a woman sobs.
Andrew Cecil works at the Rosedale Hotel near the shooting scene and said he walked over to the 7-Eleven after the man had left Original Joe's.
“I saw him with his knife,” Cecil said.
Cecil said the man went behind the counter and cornered an employee. A manager tried to “cool it” down while the man was swinging the knife around, Cecil said.
He said police showed up shortly after and deployed a Taser, which “didn't seem to affect him,” before the shots were fired.
