A coffee shop near Cordova and Main streets was behind police tape as of early Thursday afternoon. Photo by Dustin Godfrey
A 43-year-old Vancouver man is dead after an alleged stabbing near a coffee shop in the Downtown Eastside.
Vancouver police responded to a man in medical distress near Robson and Denman streets shortly before 10 a.m. this morning. VPD investigators believe the man was injured near Main and Hastings earlier in the day.
The victim was transported to hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
It’s Vancouver’s ninth homicide of the year and no suspects have been identified by police. There were 15 homicides in Vancouver last year, compared to 19 in 2017 and 12 in 2016.
VPD spokesperson Const. Tania Visintin didn’t elaborate as to how or why the victim walked four kilometres from where he was attacked to the location police found him.
Photos on social media show a coffee shop near Main and Cordova streets cordoned off behind police tape along with a heavy police presence.
Witnesses told a reporter from the Courier’s sister paper the Burnaby NOW that the victim was stabbed in the alleyway next to the coffee shop.
Alleyway behind Waves at Main and Cordova cordoned off by @VancouverPD. Someone inside Waves said it was a stabbing. pic.twitter.com/UFN45NJCBs
— dustin godfrey (@dustinrgodfrey) November 28, 2019
Visintin wouldn’t confirm if he was stabbed, nor if the victim was known to police.
The victim’s name isn’t being released until his family is notified.
Anyone with information is asked to call VPD’s Homicide Unit at 604-717-2500 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
