A man has been charged with aggravated assault following a stabbing in downtown Victoria over the weekend, according to police.
Around 4 a.m. Sunday, Victoria police were called to the 700-block of Pandora Avenue, near Blanshard Street, for a report of a stabbing. When officers arrived on scene, they found one man deceased, while a second victim was transported to hospital with life-altering injuries.
VicPD announced Tuesday that Robert Travers had been taken into custody at the scene, and has since been charged with one count of aggravated assault against the second victim. Police wouldn’t confirm if Travers is also a suspect in the stabbing death.
Police say the Vancouver Island Integrated Major Crime Unit is continuing to investigate the suspected homicide.
“We can’t speak to the ongoing suspected homicide investigation at this time,” said Cheryl Major, VicPD spokesperson.
“We can just speak to the charges that have been laid, which is one count of aggravated assault against the second victim at the scene at that time.”
According to B.C. Court Services Online (CSO), Travers is in his 60s. He was set to appear in court for a bail hearing Tuesday afternoon.
The manager of the Ocean Island Inn, a hostel, told CHEK News the victim taken to hospital was one of their employees.
The stretch of Pandora Street near the hostel was closed for most of Sunday as police investigated the scene. The area was cordoned off with police tape, and crime scene markers dotted the pavement.
“As this file is now before the courts and remains under investigation, further details cannot be shared at this time,” added VicPD in a news release.
Jessica Haberl was a guest at the hostel at the time and, in an interview with CHEK News, recalled being told by police that she wasn’t allowed in or out of the building.
“One room on the fourth floor was all cordoned off, and there were a few officers there. That was the most that we could see,” she said.
READ MORE: Safety concerns on the rise in Victoria’s downtown after two stabbings in as many weeks
This was the second stabbing in the downtown core in as many weeks. On March 19, someone was stabbed in the 1200-block of Douglas Street.
“There was a lot of squabbling and screaming,” recalled Lawrence Reed, who lives in nearby Cool Aid Society housing.
Several other locals also spoke with CHEK News following the Sunday stabbing, while Mayor Marianne Alto said these violent incidents were concerning but not the reality day-to-day.
“It’s easy and perhaps tempting to draw conclusions from having both two such incidents in a relatively short time period,” Alto said in an interview Monday.
“But at the same time, I’m assured by police that these incidents are unique and not related and that their investigations will unfold with that assumption.”
-With files from CHEK’s Mackenzie Read
Ethan Morneau
