The Vancouver Police Department (VPD) announced that the woman linked to a stabbing incident in Vancouver’s Downtown East Side using a dirty hypodermic needle as a weapon is already set to be filed with aggravated assault.
According to the VPD, the assault charge was approved by the British Columbia Prosecution Service after a thorough examination of the facts of the said incident, which took place on October 27 in the vicinity of the streets of Abbot and West Pender.
Based on the information gathered by police after an investigation on the incident was conducted, it was found that 35-year-old Cathleen Cunningham followed the 23-year-old female victim as she left a coffee shop located nearby Main and Pender streets on the evening of October 27.
Cunningham then confronted the victim and suddenly stabbed her in the leg with a dirty hypodermic needle. The latter immediately called the police to report what happened and was taken to a medical facility for treatment soon after.
VPD Sergeant Steve Addison related in a statement that “all signs point to this being a random and unprovoked assault on a victim who did nothing wrong.” He also emphasized that the victim was taken to the hospital for treatment since they still did not know what was in the needle and whether there would be any long-term health impacts.
The VPD pointed out that Cunningham is known to the police, which led to her speedy arrest after the stabbing. The police also classified the stabbing incident as a “random attack.” Cunningham was subsequently released after agreeing to appear in court at a later date.
Authorities have since beefed up their presence in Downtown Vancouver to curb the spike in crime rates in the area.
