15-year-old boy stabbed to death near Vancouver law courts, police say

Vancouver police say they are investigating the murder of a 15-year-old boy who died after being stabbed Saturday night near the Vancouver Law Courts at Smithe and Hornby streets.

"Vancouver police investigators have been working non-stop to secure evidence, identify witnesses, and find the person, or people, responsible for this murder," said Sgt. Steve Addison in a statement.

Police said the victim, a Surrey resident, was stabbed sometime before 11:40 p.m. PT. A passerby called 911.

Officers located the boy, who was treated by other first responders, on Hornby Street. The victim died in hospital early Sunday morning, said police.

No arrests have been made, and police are asking anyone with information or dashcam footage from the area at the time to come forward.

Police are not releasing the name of the victim at this time.

Addison told reporters in a news conference on Monday that police may eventually choose to release surveillance footage of the area as they continue their investigation.

He did not say if a suspect had been identified in the stabbing and urged anyone driving in the area between 11:25 p.m. and 11:40 p.m. to send dashcam video to investigators.

WATCH | Addison provides update on stabbing death: 

Vancouver police hold news conference after stabbing death of 15-year-old boy

6 hours ago

Duration 18:02

Police say that a 15-year-old boy was stabbed to death at the intersection of Smithe and Hornby streets on Saturday night.

Addison told reporters Vancouver's downtown core was particularly busy on Saturday night, given the Celebration of Light fireworks event that had just wrapped up in the West End.

"Lots of vehicle traffic in that block, it's downtown Vancouver, lots of cars driving around," he said. 

"And there may be people with dashcam video, who were passing through the area at the time, who perhaps unknowingly captured something that might be of use to our investigators."

Addison said he wasn't aware of whether the victim had attended the Celebration of Light event, and there was an altercation prior to the stabbing.

While the stabbing was not related to the Celebration of Light, he said that police would be changing their security plans for the next leg of the event on Wednesday after a few fights were reported as crowds were leaving on Saturday.

"That may include additional officers, placing officers at more strategic locations so that we have that additional presence in places where we had some challenges ...  so that we can address those and mitigate those concerns," he said.