VPD investigating violent assault described in social media warnings

Content warning: The following story deals with sexual assault and may be distressing for some readers. If you or someone you know is in need of support, you can find province-specific centres, crisis lines, and services here.

Police say they are investigating reports of a violent assault in East Vancouver, after warnings started popping up on social media urging people to be vigilant.

According to the posts, a woman was reportedly kidnapped in the area of Powell Street and Victoria Drive, sexually assaulted, severely beaten, and left at a park on Saturday night.

They add the “predator is still at large” and urge people to reshare the warning with “other femme identifying folks in the neighbourhood,” recommending people “be super aware” of their surroundings and to not walk alone at night.

The Vancouver Police Department previously told CityNews it had not received any reports of the incident. However, Sgt. Steve Addison says investigators “became aware of this Sunday, when we saw the social media posts.”

“I can confirm it was not initially reported to the Vancouver Police Department. That said, we know that victims of crime don’t always choose to come forward right away when they’ve been a victim of crime. Some people choose to wait, some people never come forward — and we absolutely understand that,” Addison explained Monday.

“In this case, given the very violent and graphic details that were included in the social media post, we made the decision to initiate an investigation to look into this further.”

He says police have since been able to identify the person they believe was referenced in the social media posts, and will work to further the investigation.

“As we work through that, that will include providing support to the person and hopefully speaking with them in further detail about what happened, as well as some other investigative steps that we can take to gather evidence so we can fully understand what did happen,” Addison said.

“I can tell you that we’ve identified that person and we’re hoping to speak with them in further detail about what happened. We have spoken to other people who have information … about the social media posts.”

Concerns in wake of assault warnings ‘not lost on us’: VPD

The VPD could not confirm any of the details in the social media posts, noting the investigation is in its early stages.

However, Addison stresses police are taking it “very seriously.”

“Having been a police officer for a number of years, I can tell you that, from personal experience in dealing with victims of crime, it’s a very personal choice for somebody to come forward to report a crime that’s happened to them or to report a crime that they’ve been a witness to. We absolutely respect a person’s decision to come forward when they’re ready, and we understand why certain people might choose not to come forward,” he said.

“In this case, we became aware of information posted on social media that was very graphic and very disturbing, and given the nature of the crimes reported on social media, we made a decision to investigate further, even though it hadn’t been reported to us.”

As social media posts continue to circulate, Addison understands if there are heightened feelings of concern.

“It’s absolutely concerning information and it’s absolutely the kind of information that causes fear and anxiety in the community. We understand that and that’s not lost on us,” he said.

“That’s why we took the steps when we became aware of it … to investigate.”