Police say a 64 year old man has been charged with three counts of aggravated assault after a triple stabbing at a festival in Vancouver’s Chinatown. The suspect remains in custody after the attack Sunday evening that left a couple in their 60s and a woman in her 20s with severe but non life threatening injuries. A BC Supreme Court decision from January 2008 shows the same man was found not criminally responsible due to mental disorder in the stabbing death of his 16 year old daugher in Kitimat in 2006. The decision shows the judge ordered the man detained at the Forensic Psychiatric Hospital in Coquitlam, where Vancouver police say he’d been released on a day pass when the Chinatown attacks took place.
Premier David Eby says BC doesn’t have the luxury of time between emergencies that have become “near constant” with the effects of climate change. He made the comments while visiting the wildfire stricken Shuswap region, where he announced the province is launching an expert task force on emergencies. Eby says the situation is urgent as fall could bring heavy rain, raising the risk of flooding on the heels of a destructive wildfire season and prolonged drought. The premier did not provide details on the structure, mandate or timeline for the task force, other than suggesting it could include a mix of experts from different levels of government, First Nations and emergency services.
Premier David Eby says about 400 structures, mostly homes in the southern Interior, have been destroyed by wildfire this summer. Many of those homes were in the Shuswap region, where Eby visited areas affected by the Bush Creek East wildfire that continues to burn out of control. Some residents in the area had defied evacuation orders, staying behind to protect their homes, and Eby told a press conference he has empathy for that dilemma. He says the province is trying to find ways to balance the involvement of community volunteers with ensuring firefighting efforts are focused on saving homes instead of rescuing people who stay behind.
RCMP in the Kootenays are asking anyone with information about a high school teacher who’s been charged with sexual offences to come forward. They say a male teacher from Kootenay River Secondary School in Creston has been charged with sexual exploitation, sexual assault, criminal harassment, extortion, telecommunications to lure a child and possessing child pornography. The offences allegedly took place between last October and June, and because some of the communications may have taken place on social media, police say it’s possible others are aware of the offences but haven’t yet come forward. The man has been released with numerous conditions, including a ban on contact with the alleged victims and on visiting school grounds.
The BC government says a stretch of Highway 97 north of Summerland has reopened to single-lane-alternating traffic after a rockslide two weeks ago. A statement from the Ministry of Transportation says contractors have built a large lock-block wall to protect the route from any additional falling rock. It says crews are still working to building a 150-metre-long berm, but work so far has allowed the reopening of the lane that’s farthest from the slope. The province cautions that it may need to close the route again with limited notice and that’s more likely if the area sees heavy rain.
A Coquitlam man has filed a lawsuit following an incident in June 2022, when he says two RCMP officers allegedly entered his home unlawfully to serve him with a traffic violation ticket. Kirk Forbes says he was walking out of the bathroom after taking a shower when he came face to face with a dark figure in the hallway. He says he was about to tackle the person, when he noticed the police uniform. Forbes says the officers told him they were serving him with a traffic ticket from 2021, but the father of two says he was never pulled over, and the lawsuit accuses the two Mounties of entering his home unlawfully.