"High on meth and acting paranoid": Patient pulls out knife at Vancouver hospital

A terrifying situation on Tuesday night led to a heavy police presence at Vancouver General Hospital.

Police say a man armed with a “switchblade-style knife” forced nurses and staff to call for help around 10:30 pm.

The man, who police say was under the influence of meth, was kept isolated from the staff and patients while crisis negotiators spoke with him through the door.

You might also like:
• Armed woman at BC Women’s Hospital tried to break into nursery: VPD
• Vancouver City Council outlines hiring 200 new police officers and nurses
• VPD criticized for report that states $14M per day is spent in the Downtown Eastside

VPD crisis negotiators convinced the man — who was behind a locked door in the psych ward — to surrender by sliding the knife under the door.

Police say he was a patient at Vancouver General Hospital at the time and acted in a way that could have been dangerous to himself and others.

Multiple VPD officers were called in to respond to the situation. The armed man was taken into custody following the incident without anyone being injured.

“The patient is a 38-year-old man from Vancouver. He has a long history of mental health challenges. We’re not considering criminal charges at this time, as this incident appears to be rooted in drug or mental health psychosis,” Vancouver Police Constable Tania Visintin told Daily Hive.

In September, a similar situation occurred at a different medical facility when an incident at BC Women’s Hospital forced staff to “shelter in place.”