A 28-year-old man has been charged with second-degree murder following a knife attack Saturday afternoon in a usually placid Vancouver suburb.
One woman is dead and six people are recovering from stab wounds after they were attacked by a man inside and outside the local library at Lynn Valley Village shopping centre in North Vancouver.
A man was arrested shortly after the incident.
Video of the arrest appeared to show him stabbing himself and collapsing before police converged on him.
A woman places flowers at a memorial outside the Lynn Valley Library for the victims of a mass stabbing incident that happened Saturday inside and around the library, in North Vancouver, B.C. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck)
In a news release Sunday, the Lower Mainland’s Integrated Homicide Investigation Team confirmed that the suspect had suffered “self-inflicted wounds” and undergone surgery and remained in police custody.
The release said Yannick Bandaogo had been charged with second-degree murder.
Police said the suspect was known to them and had a criminal record, but they, as yet, had not established a motive, saying they are still trying to determine whether Bandaogo had any relationship with his alleged victims.
The woman who died, police said, was in her late 20s.
She died at the scene.
People lay flowers at a makeshift memorial outside of the Lynn Valley Library in Lynn Valley in North Vancouver, B.C., Sunday. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward)
The rest of the victims were taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, police said.
Police have not released the names of any of the victims.
The library and the shopping centre remained closed Sunday as a memorial to the victims grew on the sidewalk.
“Bouquets were dropped off outside the North Vancouver branch, while a ‘Lynn Valley strong’ sign was placed nearby, matching the neon police tape. On a wooden bench lining the sidewalk, a large blood stain remained,” the CBC’s Michelle Ghoussoub reported.
Piper French, who works at area restaurant Browns Socialhouse, told Ghoussoub she was driving by on Saturday when she saw ambulances, police cruisers and a throng of people who appeared to have been evacuated from the library.
“‘It was quite shocking because everyone looked quite scared,'” French told Ghoussoub.
“‘I don’t even know what to say because this is such a safe neighborhood…. There’s always kids out there riding their bikes. Especially in broad daylight I’ve never felt unsafe here until now … it’s a little bit unsettling.'”
With files from CBC News (Michelle Ghoussoub), The Canadian Press (Brenna Owen)
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