Vancouver police announced second-degree murder and aggravated assault charges against a man accused in a horrific knife attack in downtown Vancouver on Wednesday.
Brendan Colin McBride, 34, was arrested just over an hour after allegedly attacking one man and severing his hand then, two blocks away, allegedly killing 70-year-old Francis Laporte outside the Queen Elizabeth Theatre, Vancouver police said in a news release Thursday afternoon.
The first victim, who police aren’t naming, underwent surgery and remains in hospital.
Court records show Mr. McBride had pleaded guilty to assault causing bodily harm in February 2022 in North Vancouver. He was given a year of probation with conditions including attending psychiatric outpatient therapy.
Mr. McBride was charged last year with the September assault of a man and obstructing or resisting a local RCMP officer in White Rock, a suburb south of Vancouver. He was given a conditional discharge this April for the assault charge and 18 months of probation. His conditions included attending psychiatric treatment, with the possibility of live-in treatment if his probation officer deemed it necessary.
On Wednesday, Vancouver Police Chief Adam Palmer told a news conference the man officers arrested following the attacks was “very troubled.” Chief Palmer said the suspect was among a minority of those with serious mental illnesses who should probably be institutionalized.
Some 90 officers responded Wednesday morning when police were called to a small downtown Vancouver square after reports that a man had been attacked with a knife. Officers located a 56-year-old man bleeding from the head and with one hand severed. The victim and his hand were taken to hospital Eight minutes later, police responded two blocks away at the theatre where a second man was attacked. He died at the scene
Just over an hour after the attacks, a man walking his dog at a park in the nearby Olympic Village neighbourhood noticed the suspect acting erratically and called police. Chief Palmer said the Emergency Response Team was brought in and, with the help of a drone, found and arrested the suspect near a popular seaside haunt known by locals as “Beer Island.”
More to come