Chinatown Festival Ends with Stabbings

The stabbings occurred near this stage at Keefer and Columbia

"Light Up Chinatown" was meant to be an open invitation for people to come to the neighbourhood and patronise the shops and restaurants in the run up to the Mid-Autumn Festival at the end of this month.

However, just as the two-day event was wrapping up, before 6pm, a 64-year-old man suddenly stabbed three people near the stage at the intersection of Keefer and Columbia streets.

The victims, a couple in their 60s and a young woman in her 20s were given immediate care and sent to hospital, while the police -- who were providing security for the event -- interviewed witnesses for a description of the assailant and soon after arrested the man, Blair Evan Donnelly nearby in the Downtown Eastside.

Police arrested the attacker, no known motive

It turns out he was on a day pass from a local psychiatric facility. In 2006 he had killed his 16-year-old daughter in Kitimat. He was charged with second-degree murder, but was found not guilty in January 2008 because of a mental disorder and was sent to Forensic Psychiatric Hospital in Coquitlam.

Yesterday he was charged with three counts of aggravated assault.

It was shocking to hear the news and that the perpetrator has a mental illness. 

Carol Lee, the chair of the Vancouver Chinatown Foundation was around 20 feet away from where the attacks happened and was devastated by the horrific incident.

"I think if you were close by, it's a traumatic thing to see somebody at a community event, just an innocent bystander, getting stabbed," she said.

Lee broke down during the press conference, describing the attacks as feeling "very personal. We've worked very hard to put this festival and the community together to celebrate all the progress that we have made."

Lee in tears during press conference

Revitalising and making Chinatown safe has been a priority for Mayor Ken Sim, who said in a press release that the "senseless violence is heartbreaking."

"We will not allow this senseless act of violence to disrupt celebrations of all that makes our city great, and we will work each and every day to ensure Vancouver is a place where people can live, work, and thrive in a safe environment."

To that end it was a surprise to see a lot of police officers in Chinatown today. At lunchtime, four of them patronised the same cha chaan teng as us, with two police cars parked in front. Afterwards we saw two cops patrolling the streets.

It was reassuring to see them around to give a sense of security... though they need to be around more often to really give people peace of mind and feel safe in the area.