North Vancouver restaurant owner allegedly targeted in racial attack receives outpouring of support

It wasn't a typical Tuesday night at North Vancouver's Nobu Sushi, with a flurry of phone calls for take-out orders mirroring a Friday night.

Owner Edward Hur says a large number of the people calling in also offered support, letting him and his family know they're appreciated in the community.

"It's very surprising," Hur told CTV News Vancouver.

Last Friday however, Hur received anything but support.

While closing up shop for the night, Hur says he saw a woman letting her dog pee on his door. When he went outside to confront her, things turned ugly, he says.

"I hate Asian people, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, doesn't matter," Hur says the woman told him.

"I especially hate Korean people because they eat dogs."

Hur and his wife moved to Canada from Korea 24 years ago.

Hur was able to capture some of the incident on video, however he says the woman dialed down her comments once his phone came out.

But there was more than just racial slurs, he says.

"Then she spit two times on my body," Hur said.

He says the same woman berated and spat on his wife just last year.

"My wife is very sad and very shaky," Hur said.

"My heart is broken."

While still hurting from the incident, Hur says the support from the community in Edgemont Village has certainly helped.

People have began placing notes of kindness on the outside of their front window.

"Ed, we respect you and your family," one says.

"We are so grateful to have you in our community," says another.

Hur said people have also dropped off gifts, or stopped in to offer support in person.

"Some people give flowers, some people give card, some people give the hugs," Hur said.

"We are not alone."

North Vancouver RCMP announced it's investigating the incident as a possible hate crime Tuesday.

The use of racial slurs is something investigators say is particularly concerning.

"Hate crimes and hate motivated criminal activity have no place in our community and our officers are working diligently to identify this suspect," said spokesperson Const. Mansoor Sahak in a statement.

While using racist language or shouting racist slurs at someone is not – in and of itself – a criminal offence, the use of this language while committing an apparent assault means it can be investigated as a hate-motivated crime, police explained.

"Hate-motivated crimes, as opposed to incidents, are criminal offences committed against a person, an organization or property that are motivated by hate, prejudice or bias against an identifiable group. Hate crimes should be reported to police," the detachment's statement says.

The woman is described as white, 5’6 feet tall, with brown and red shoulder length hair. At the time, police say she was wearing a turquoise rain jacket, dark blue pants and a light blue blouse.

Anyone who has video of the incident or who thinks they can identify the suspect is urged to call the detachment at 604-985-1311.

With files from CTV News Vancouver's Lisa Steacy