Two teenagers have been charged in connection to a stabbing that left a man with “significant” injuries.
Around 11 p.m. on April 10, members of the New Westminster Police Department and Metro Vancouver Transit Police responded to a stabbing at Columbia SkyTrain station. New West police say a man had been stabbed and a woman was assaulted by a group of youths who were not known to them.
“This was a senseless and violent incident that left a man with significant injuries,” NWPD spokesperson Sgt. Andrew Leaver said in a news release. “It’s concerning to see the ages of these suspects, and we’re hopeful they realize the severity of their actions and make better decisions in the future. We’d like to thank Metro Vancouver Transit Police for their ongoing assistance with this investigation.”
The New Westminster Police Department’s Major Crime Unit led the investigation, with ongoing assistance from the Metro Vancouver Transit Police and the NWPD’s Forensic Identification and Street Crime units. These teams collected evidence, canvassed for CCTV footage, and eventually identified suspects.
In a June 13 news release, the New Westminster Police Department announced that two suspects, aged 16 and 17, were arrested. Charges were approved relating to aggravated assault, assault with a weapon and robbery, but the names of the youths cannot be released as per the Youth Criminal Justice Act.
According to the NWPD, one suspect remains in custody, while the other suspect has been released pending a future court appearance.
Following the incident, the New Westminster Police Department said an altercation took place between two groups inside the SkyTrain station, resulting in the victim being stabbed. During the altercation, one of the suspects fell into the tracks.
“This type of violence occurring in a public place is concerning, and our detectives are working diligently to bring the persons responsible to justice,” Leaver said at the time of the incident.
The stabbing was one of a series of events – including a shooting, stabbings and assaults – occurring in downtown New West in the early months of 2023 that prompted the police department to temporarily redeploy officers from other areas to the neighbourhood to address safety. As part of the downtown focus that occurred throughout the month of May, members from the NWPD’s Crime Reduction Unit, Road and Traffic Safety Unit, and Gang Suppression Unit were deployed to the downtown neighbourhood on bikes, on foot and in cars.
