Vancouver stabbing suspect believed to be involved in 5 incidents: VPD

Vancouver police say the suspect in a random knife attack downtown Wednesday had just been released from custody and may be linked to other assaults the same day.

Officers were called to the area of Smithe and Beatty streets just before noon Wednesday for reports “that one person was stabbed and a male was chasing people around with a knife.”

A 61-year-old was treated for “non-life-threatening injuries” while a 46-year-old suspect was arrested after being tased by officers.

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The suspect, who has a history with police, “appears to have mental health challenges,” Chief Const. Adam Palmer said Thursday.

Palmer says on March 15, the suspect was released from the Fraser Regional Correctional Centre on probation. He had been serving a sentence for “uttering threats against his own family members and also against prominent federal politicians.”

“The suspect failed to report to his probation officer yesterday morning in Surrey, which is where he is reporting, outside the City of Vancouver, and these incidents began to occur yesterday in downtown Vancouver while he was absent from reporting to his probation officer,” Palmer explained.

Now, the VPD says the same suspect is believed to have been “responsible for five separate, violent, and unprovoked incidents that unfolded in downtown Vancouver throughout the morning [Wednesday.]”

“The first assault occurred at 8:40 a.m. when a man was attacked by a stranger while walking near Seymour and West Cordova streets. Minutes later, a 9-1-1 caller reported that a man had entered a coffee shop near Harbour Centre. There was a disturbance causing a glass window to be broken and making customers fear for their safety,” Palmer explained.

The third incident reported to police came in around 11:30 a.m. after a man walking near Main and Prior streets said he was “chased by a stranger who lunged at him with a knife and was yelling at him.” Palmer says no physical injuries were reported in this instance.

The fourth incident — the stabbing — is when the suspect was arrested. Palmer says upon taking him into custody, police “learned that the suspect was involved in an additional assault, which is still under investigation.”

Kent Meades has been charged with assault with a weapon, assault, and uttering threats in connection with the investigations.

Palmer says Meades remains in custody, and expects “more charges will be laid.”

He notes while Meades has had run-ins with police, officers in Vancouver “have not had significant dealings with him.”

“We believe he has previously spent time in Surrey and Delta after returning to Canada from Thailand in 2022, where he spent time in custody overseas for multiple offences, including breaking into a bank, causing damage inside of that premises, and overstaying his tourist visa,” Palmer added.

Search for suspect in Stanley Park assault ongoing: police

Meanwhile, Vancouver police say the search continues for a suspect after a woman was sexually assaulted by a stranger while walking in Stanley Park Monday.

The VPD says it has increased patrols in the park, and officers will be on horseback, bike, and foot, looking for evidence and the suspect, and to reassure the public.

“We’re still gathering evidence, working towards the identification of the person responsible for what we believe was an unmotivated stranger attack on a woman,” Palmer said.

“We have specialized sex crimes investigators, forensic experts, and crime analysts assigned full-time who are reviewing the facts and working with police from other jurisdictions to help identify the suspect.”

Palmer says there’s still information that can’t be shared due to the nature of the investigation.

The suspect is described as a man in his 20s who is about 5’7″ tall. He was wearing a dark toque and a zipper jacket with a checkered pattern on the front at the time of the incident.

Despite major concerns from the public, Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim insists that random assaults have decreased overall, and Vancouver is a safe city.

“All I got to say is look, we’re a big city, there will be challenges, but when you look at the macro data, there are a lot of cases, it is becoming a safety city,” the mayor said.

Sim committed to fully funding the VPD, while asking the federal government for more support.

“Vancouver continues to grapple with a mental health crisis that requires an all-hands-on-deck approach, including the federal government. Because this isn’t simply something we can arrest our way out of,” he said.

With files from Cecilia Hua.