White Rock RCMP address safety concerns following deadly attack

A town hall meeting was held in White Rock Tuesday night in response to the RCMP’s efforts to maintain safety after a deadly stabbing attack.

Locals, along with family and friends of Kulwinder Singh Sohi, who was killed, raised concerns and demanded answers as to why more wasn’t done to alert the pubic after the initial non-fatal attack on April 21.

White Rock RCMP Staff Sgt. Rob Dixon said that police responded to the initial stabbing by deploying multiple crews as the suspect remained on the loose.

“We had the integrated police dog service, forensic identification section and the Surrey RCMP assisting following the hours,” Dixon said.

He went on to say that there were increased patrols in White Rock the following day, and information was released on social media.

On April 23, police say they responded to reports of a man with stab wounds near the White Rock Pier on Marine Drive at around 9:30 p.m. It was reported Sohi was treated on scene but died from his injuries.

Investigators say witnesses described seeing Sohi in a physical altercation with the suspect before chasing him eastbound on the White Rock promenade toward a parking lot next to the Grand Chief Bernard Robert Charles (Pa-Kwach-Tun) Memorial Plaza.

The suspect was described as a 5’11” Black man wearing a hoodie. A similar description was provided for the suspect in the first attack days prior.

Authorities previously said they have neither “confirmed, nor ruled out” the possibility the same person was behind both stabbings.

On Tuesday, homicide investigators announced that 27-year-old Dimitri Nelson Hyacinth was arrested in Surrey on Monday, in connection to the fatal stabbing.

He has since been charged with aggravated assault in connection to the non-fatal stabbing that occurred in the same area two days before the homicide last week, according to the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team.

IHIT said its investigation into the homicide is still ongoing, though charges have not yet been laid.

During the town hall meeting on Tuesday eveing, White Rock RCMP wouldn’t comment on the investigation but did outline their enhanced safety measures which includes ramping up patrols in the coming weeks.