Vancouver Police charge suspect after man threatened with loaded gun
Posted September 20, 2022 2:55 pm.
Last Updated September 20, 2022 2:56 pm.
Vancouver Police say a 33-year-old man has been charged in connection with threatening a resident of the Hastings Street encampment with a loaded gun Saturday morning.
Officers first responded Saturday after a bystander called police to report an altercation between two men in a laneway behind the Carnegie Centre at Main and Hasting, police said in a news release.
The suspect fled and was later arrested near Main and Keefer streets.
The victim was not harmed, according to VPD.
Luis Alfredo Gaitan-Tijerino has been charged with assault, possession of a weapon, uttering threats to cause death or bodily harm, using a firearm during the commission of an indictable offence and unauthorized possession of a loaded firearm.
“People without homes are already far more likely to become victims of violent crime than those who have stable housing, and those risks increase for people living in and around encampments,” said Sergeant Steve Addison in a news release.
“This incident underscores the dangers facing vulnerable people – especially those living on the streets in the Downtown Eastside.”
According to the VPD, between July 1 and August 31, there was nearly a 50 per cent increase in serious assaults and assaults with weapons in the Downtown Eastside encampment zone.
