More than four people a day are victims of random unprovoked attacks in Vancouver, according to data shared by the Vancouver Police Department.
VPD reviewed assaults between September 2020 and August 2021, and over that time period, there were 1,555 attacks on 1,705 victims.
Some of the details that the VPD has released may be triggering to victims of violence.
Forty-seven per cent of the attacks in Vancouver involved weapons, and 24% of the victims were female. Twenty-eight per cent of suspects involved appeared to be living with mental illnesses.
The VPD shared details around some of the incidents on Twitter.
Over the last few months, we’ve noticed what appears to be an uptick in unprovoked stranger attacks, so we asked our strategic researchers to take a deep dive into the numbers.
What they found is concerning: over four people a day are the target of a random, unprovoked assault.
— Vancouver Police (@VancouverPD) October 20, 2021
One of the incidents involved a woman who was walking with her elderly father around Trout Lake. An unknown female, who appeared to be around 12 years old, walked towards the woman and punched her in the nose.
In another incident, two men were walking downtown when a stranger started to follow them and proceeded to slap one of them so hard it broke the victim’s glasses. The suspects in both of these cases have not been identified.
Another case highlighted by VPD is about a violent male behaving erratically near Main Street and Terminal Avenue. He began assaulting several people who were waiting at the bus stop. During the suspect’s arrest, one of the officers suffered a broken arm, and the man bit another officer.
Perhaps the most violent incident involved a man running errands near Quebec Street and West 10th Avenue. A stranger then came up from behind him and cut his throat. Thankfully, witnesses came to the victim’s aid, but he suffered significant injuries.
Having confirmed the number of these assaults is alarming, we will be working within our resources to improve public safety.
If you, or someone you know, has been the victim of any crime, please call 911 or non-emergency at 604-717-3321.#VPD #CommunityInNeed #ReportCrime
— Vancouver Police (@VancouverPD) October 20, 2021
The last incident the VPD detailed involved a man driving near Ontario Street and South East Marine Drive, when a stranger punched him through an open car window. That suspect then followed an elderly victim, before punching him and wrestling him to the ground. Witnesses also intervened in this case.
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