Police search downtown Vancouver in pursuit of stabbing suspect
Vancouver police in pursuit of a stabbing suspect surrounded Esther Short Park in downtown Vancouver on Tuesday afternoon.
Residents of the tent camp near Jefferson Street and Evergreen Boulevard, about four blocks northwest of the park, said a former camper had stabbed a man at 2 p.m.
Anthony Cabrera, 36, said the victim is his close friend and had lived with him at the camp for at least three months.
The stabbing suspect was a younger man who had also lived at the camp but recently relocated to another site, Cabrera said.
"He was someone I had tried to take under my wing, to show him a better path," Cabrera said of the suspect, identified by police as a 19-year-old man. The Columbian is not naming the suspect until police confirm his name.
Cabrera said he and the victim, along with some friends, had been preparing to take their dogs to the Columbia River to cool off as afternoon temperatures soared into the high 80s.
Cabrera said the suspect had been arguing with his friend before stabbing him four times.
"He was stabbed twice in the stomach and twice in the back," Cabrera said.
He said he saw his friend on a stretcher being loaded into an ambulance. The Columbian is not naming the victim at this time. Vancouver police spokesperson Kim Kapp said in an email that the man suffered life-threatening injuries.
As police roamed the area in search of the suspect Tuesday afternoon, other campers cared for the victim's 6-year-old dog and waited for an update on their friend.
Kapp said police located the suspect near Columbia Street and Columbia Way and took him into custody.
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This story was originally published June 2, 2026 at 5:54 PM.