VANCOUVER -- Six people are injured and a woman is dead after a stabbing incident on the North Shore Saturday afternoon.
The Lower Mainland's Integrated Homicide Investigation Team has been called to the scene at Lynn Valley Village, where North Vancouver RCMP said earlier in the day that multiple victims had been stabbed "within and outside" Lynn Valley Library.
One man is in custody after the incident, police said, adding that they believe there is only one suspect.
Police, firefighters and paramedics were all called to the scene around 2 p.m. to deal with a scene witnesses described as "chaos."
IHIT spokesperson Sgt. Frank Jang said a total of six people were stabbed during the incident, and asked anyone who witnessed the event to speak with police as soon as possible.
"Obviously, the question is, 'Why did this happen?'" Jang told reporters at the scene Saturday night. "We believe we know the who, the what, the where and the when. It is now our job to determine the why."
Every available IHIT detective and every available serious crime investigator from North Vancouver RCMP has been called to the scene and is available to speak to witnesses, Jang said.
"Every little thing is important on this one," he said. "If you were here and you saw the one man who was taken into custody, if you heard him say anything, whatever the case may be, we need you to come forward."
Jang said police have not yet spoken to the suspect. He was taken to hospital after the incident, and in videos of his arrest, he appears to stab himself before collapsing to the ground and being restrained by police.
The suspect has had previous interactions with police and has a criminal record, Jang said. He did not elaborate on what charges the man has faced in the past.
"Obviously, one of the priorities is to look into his past," Jang said.
Shayla Dyson was at Browns Socialhouse at the time of the incident. She told CTV News Vancouver she remembers hearing a commotion outside the restaurant and looking up to see a man stabbing a woman.
Restaurant staff chased the assailant away and brought the woman inside, Dyson said.
"They had locked all the doors and they were trying to open it to get him to run away, which he did, and then they dragged her inside and her young kid too," she said.
Dyson said she saw multiple people being treated for injuries after the incident.
"None of the victims seem to have anything in common," she said. "It didn’t look like he knew who they were from the way she was reacting. It seemed random."
North Vancouver District Public Library tweeted that the branch would be closed for the rest of the day "due to an incident in the area." The library did not describe the incident, but asked the public to avoid the area.
Lynn Valley Village also closed for the rest of the day after the incident.
