The Vancouver Police Department is asking for the public's help to identify suspects in three unprovoked stranger assaults that occurred across the city on Thursday. Officers released details of each incident as they appealed for witnesses and video.
The first incident took place at about 6:10 a.m. at Victory Square, near 200 West Hastings Street in downtown Vancouver. Police described the three attacks as separate and unprovoked, with victims approached by strangers rather than drawn into disputes.
Investigators are seeking witnesses for all three assaults and want anyone who was in the areas at the time, or who may hold dashcam or security footage, to contact the department. No suspect descriptions beyond the appeal itself should be assumed until police release them.
The appeal follows a series of stranger-assault warnings in Vancouver in recent years that have kept personal safety in public spaces at the centre of civic debate. Police say tips from the public are often what allow separate reports to be linked and suspects to be identified.
