HAMMER ATTACKS IN B.C, QUEBEC
LILLOOET, B.C. • Police say a man walked into an aboriginal government office in British Columbia and attacked the people there with a hammer, leaving 10 injured, some critically.
Police say the suspect was restrained when they arrived and died some time after the Wednesday attack.
Michaela Swan with the Interior Health Authority said that two patients are in critical condition, another two in serious condition and six others have non-life threatening injuries.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police say they were called about a man with a weapon at the Bridge River Indian Band office. They say they found the suspect already restrained when they arrived, but he was unconscious and unresponsive.
An emergency worker who didn’t want to be named said the man apparently attacked one person with the hammer, and when others in the office went to help they were also beaten.
Bridge River Indian Band Chief Susan James issued a statement, saying her immediate concern was to ensure that the families involved in the tragedy were being helped.
“Our attention now will be on the healing work we need to do. This tragedy has put our community in shock.”
Bridge River is a tiny aboriginal town located about nine kilometres northwest of Lillooet, in B.C.’s Interior.
Meanwhile, at least four people have been attacked with a hammer in separate incidents in Quebec, with one of the assaults turning fatal and likely leading to a murder charge.
A 19-year-old man was killed and two other people suffered head injuries following random attacks on Tuesday evening in Laval, just north of Montreal.
In that case, police arrested a 34-year-old man who was expected to face several charges, including murder, attempted murder and mischief.
Laval police were canvassing a large crime scene where the attacks took place between 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. the previous evening.
Police say the victims appear to have been chosen at random.
“There are no links between him (the accused) and the three victims, there’s also no links between the three victims,” said Const. Franco Di Genova. “We’re talking about three separate cases.”
Di Genova said authorities arrested the suspect, who is known to local police, following eyewitness reports of someone smashing car windows.
Officers caught the suspect after a store business had its window smashed with a brick or rock, triggering an alarm.
Police used an electroshock weapon to arrest the man, who was agitated and transported to hospital, Di Genova said.
And in Trois-Rivieres, a teenage girl was seriously injured after also being targeted with a hammer in an incident that happened at about the same time.
Const. Michel Letarte said a 911 call led police to the 14-year-old girl, who told authorities she’d been attacked by an unknown man from behind with a hammer.
Trois-Rivieres police arrested a 56-year-old man on Wednesday in connection with the assault.