‘Lots of screaming’: Man, 29, killed in stabbing at Nanaimo’s Maffeo Sutton Park

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Police tape cordons off a section of Nanaimo's Maffeo Sutton Park following a fatal stabbing a night earlier. Sept. 6, 2022.

One man is dead and two people are in custody following an apparently random stabbing in Nanaimo’s Maffeo Sutton Park Monday night.

Police were called to the downtown Nanaimo waterfront at around 11:30 p.m. for a report that a group of youths were intimidating a security guard.

One witness says she was in a car in the parking lot when she heard the melee.

“Lots of screaming, yelling. I couldn’t articulate what anyone was saying but the high-pitched screaming did not sound good. It sounded like somebody was being hurt,” said Bryana Kelly.

When officers arrived, the suspects had already fled the scene. A search ensued and that’s when an officer found a 29-year-old Nanaimo man who had been stabbed, as well as his friend, who had been bear sprayed.

Paramedics rushed the 29-year-old man to hospital where he was pronounced dead. His friend, 22, was treated at the scene and did not require hospitalization.

Officers tracked down and arrested a 19-year-old man near the scene without incident, then used a police dog to locate a 17-year-old male who was also arrested. Both suspects remain in police custody. Police say they are also trying to find a third individual linked to the stabbing.

Nanaimo RCMP says investigators haven’t established any connection between the victims and suspects.

“We don’t know what precipitated this attack. All we know is these individuals had no connection between them,” said Nanaimo RCMP spokesman Const. Gary O’Brien.

No charges have been laid and the investigation remains ongoing, but there does not appear to be any further risk to the public, say police.

The playground, walking bridge and beach area at Maffeo Sutton Park will remain closed to the public while police comb over the scene for forensic evidence.

Anyone with information on the incident is asked to call Nanaimo RCMP at 250-754-2345 and quote file number 2022-31326.

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