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'Serious assault' that involved a large sword sends 2 people to hospital: Vancouver police

People were reportedly taken to hospital Monday night after a serious assault in Vancouver on July 12, 2021. People were reportedly taken to hospital Monday night after a serious assault in Vancouver on July 12, 2021.
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Two people were taken to hospital Monday night over what Vancouver police are calling a "serious assault" that involved a large sword.

Police had the area of Oak Street near 12th Avenue blocked in the evening after the incident.

Vancouver police said they received "a number of 911 calls" at about 7:30 p.m. about an assault-in-progress Monday.

"It was reported to us that the assault involved somebody in possession of a large sword or a samurai sword," Sgt. Steve Addison said.

Addison said as officers were arriving, a 29-year-old suspect fled the building, adding that he was involved "in some sort of altercation" with someone inside the building. Addison said the individuals knew each other.

Witnesses told CTV News Vancouver they saw a man covered in blood run out of a building.

"There was a guy in the window saying, 'Somebody's been hit by a sword.' He came sort of charging at us, a few of us across the street standing there and we sort of scattered," said Nick Lakowski, who witnessed the incident.

"He jumped on a car and kind of shattered the windshield of that, rolled off and the police tried to take him down."

Addison said officers used a Taser while arresting the suspect, which he said was ineffective. Bean-bag rounds were also used during the arrest.

"Quite simply the reason for that is that it was the safest way to stop this man, to take him into custody, to prevent him from causing harm to himself, to prevent him from causing harm to anyone else," Addison explained.

Both the suspect and the 59-year-old victim were taken to hospital. The victim, who was mostly injured in his face and upper body, will likely survive, Addison said.

The suspect has more serious injuries, however, and the injuries may have been self-inflicted, Addison said.

An officer was also injured during the pursuit of the suspect, but those injuries are minor.

Police say they're still investigating what happened and have locked down the apartment building where the altercation happened.

No charges have been laid and while B.C.'s police watchdog was notified of the incident, the agency is not investigating.

The Independent Investigations Office said in a news release Tuesday afternoon that most of the injuries sustained by the two men "occurred prior to police attendance."

"They do not meet the IIO’s mandated threshold for serious harm as defined by the Police Act," a statement from the IIO said. "The IIO will therefore not launch an investigation." 

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