Man charged after 3 people stabbed at festival in Vancouver's Chinatown
Blair Evan Donnelly, 64, was on day pass from Lower Mainland psychiatric facility, police chief says
A 64-year-old man accused of stabbing three people at a festival in Vancouver's Chinatown over the weekend was out on a day pass from a Lower Mainland psychiatric facility at the time, according to police.
Blair Evan Donnelly is in custody charged with three counts of aggravated assault, according to the Vancouver Police Department.
Chief Adam Palmer told a news conference Monday morning that investigators have yet to determine a motive for the attack on attendees at the Light Up Chinatown! festival just before 6 p.m. PT on Sunday.
"It was a senseless crime," Palmer told reporters. "It defies any logical explanation."
He said the victims include a husband and wife in their 60s and a woman in her early 20s. Their injuries are not believed to be life threatening.
A suspect was arrested just blocks away from the scene of the stabbing at the festival's main stage at Columbia and Keefer streets, Palmer said.
Police say the man is from elsewhere in B.C. and has a history with police, but not in Vancouver.
In 2008, a Kitimat man named Blair Donnelly was found not criminally responsible in the 2006 killing of his 16-year-old daughter Stephanie because of a mental disorder. He was subsequently transferred to a forensic psychiatric unit in Port Coquitlam.
CBC News has reached out to the B.C. Review Board, which handles parole applications, as well as the B.C. Prosecution Service for more on the suspect in Sunday night's stabbings. CBC News has been unable to confirm if it is the same man charged in 2008.
Palmer acknowledged that Vancouver saw a spike in anti-Asian hate crimes during the COVID-19 pandemic, but said it's too early to say whether the stabbings were motivated by hate. However, he confirmed that all three victims are of East Asian descent.
Addressing the wider Chinatown community, Palmer said: "Please know that we are in this together and we have your backs."
Organizers 'heartbroken and devastated'
B.C. Emergency Health Services said it sent five ambulances to the scene and three patients were taken to hospital, all in stable condition.
"Our thoughts are with those who have been impacted by this act of violence," Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim said in a statement. "We wish all of those affected a speedy recovery and offer our support to their families and loved ones."
The Vancouver Chinatown Foundation chair and festival organizer Carol Lee said they were "heartbroken and devastated" by the incident.
"The safety and well-being of our community is our top priority," she said.
The third annual Light Up Chinatown! festival took place over two days, on Saturday and Sunday.
A release from the Vancouver Chinatown Foundation said the event is a celebration of the neighbourhood's spirit and a testament to the community's resilience.
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