After another Vancouver ‘stranger attack’ advocates say more social service support needed

It’s the latest in a string of so-called stranger attacks in Vancouver, but it appears to be the first that’s ended in death.

At 8:30 a.m. on July 11 in Yaletown, 29-year-old Justin Mohrmann was stabbed on the street.

A 34-year-old woman is now charged with second degree murder and the Vancouver Police Department (VPD) says the two people didn’t know each other.

Police have suggested stranger attacks are on the rise, saying officers are responding to roughly four a day, but advocates say the solution isn’t more policing, it’s more social service supports in Vancouver’s downtown.

As someone who struggled with homelessness and addiction for nearly 20 years in the Downtown Eastside, Guy Felicella, peer clinical advisor, BC Centre on Substance Use, knows how hard it can be to get help.

“Found myself incarcerated for an evening and then released at 3 a.m. in the morning. That’s not much in the sense of support for people and that still goes on today as well,” said Felicella.

“There was lack of services but then there was the psychiatry or put in a psych ward hospital, which seemed to often times be the wrong fit for some people.”

Felicella explains there is a desire for people to seek assistance.

“The amount of people I speak to daily, they do want help, it’s just rather challenging.”

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“This incident was frightening to a lot of people. It’s a very serious and violent incident that occurred in a very busy neighborhood in right downtown Vancouver,” said Sgt. Steve Addison, VPD.

“We’re still investigating all of the circumstances. We still think there’s people out there who have information that could come forward that might be able to determine that. At this time, whether there’s a specific motive is not something that I can speak to. That is likely to form part of the criminal proceedings that take place now that there have been charges laid,” he explained.

Police say they’re taking steps to address the ongoing issue, such as a dedicated task force and targeted patrols, but one criminologist says that’s not what’s needed.

“We need to take money out of their budgets and put it into mental health services. Cause mental health is this underlying factor – that they’re reporting on themselves – then we need more mental health services, we need more addiction services, we need better housing,” said Professor of Criminology Martin Andresen at Simon Fraser University.

“Of course these are violent attacks and some, like most recently are homicide, so these are not crimes we should be minimizing,” added Andresen.

The VPD hasn’t said if the suspect in the deadly Yaletown stabbing was dealing with mental health or addictions issues. She remains in custody.

While the VPD has suggested incidents like this are increasing, Andersen believes they’re being highlighted more by police, in part to secure funding.

“There’s a bit of an increase, in the most recent years but Vancouver hasn’t become this post-apocalyptic city that some people seem to think is going on.”

Back in October, the VPD tweeted out that they were noticing a rise of “unprovoked stranger attacks” and pledged to work to improve public safety.

With files from Hana Mae Nassar and Sonia Aslam and Kareem Gouda