‘Deeply shocked’: Mother considers leaving Vancouver after verbal attack by stranger – BC

A Sunday stroll along the seawall in Yaletown took a horrific turn for a Vancouver mother and her baby after a man verbally attacked her so severely that she now wants to leave the city.

For security reasons, Global News has agreed to keep her identity confidential and refer to her as Anna.

Anna says that on July 28 at around 8:45 a.m., she was pushing her one-year-old son’s stroller near the seawall at the Cambie Bridge and Marina when a man approached her from behind.

“He was screaming and shouting threats and obscenities, but he was screaming them to himself as if he was arguing with someone in his own head,” Anna said.

She said she decided to cross the street but was followed by the man and his obscenities became increasingly targeted at her.

“Then he started screaming, ‘You f***ing bitch. You think I can’t catch you? I can f***ing catch you, you f***ing bitch,'” she said.

Anna says she screamed for help and ran down a ramp to the seawall, where passersby intervened and surrounded her and her child.

““Another person with a stroller was also there and went to the corner to inform the police what had happened,” she said, adding that the suspect walked up to that second person, yelling and kicking them.

Get the latest national news

Sign up for breaking news alerts delivered straight to you as news breaks from Canada and around the world.

By providing your email address, you confirm that you have read and agree to Global News’ Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.

She said police arrested the suspect in both incidents within minutes.

“I am deeply shocked because I had the baby with me. And what would have happened if he had caught me? I am so scared,” Anna said.

0:20
Drive-by shooting shakes Vancouver’s Yaletown

Const. Tania Visintin of the Vancouver Police Department confirmed that the suspect was taken into custody but has since been released.

Anna says police told her that nothing the man did to her was illegal and that further incidents were unlikely to result in charges.

However, according to Visintin, the file remains under investigation and officials are currently considering whether to recommend charges to the public prosecutor’s office.

According to Visintin, the suspect was allegedly involved in two other incidents on the same day.

When asked if the VPD is seeing an increase in similar incidents in Yaletown, Visintin says it’s “something we’re seeing across the city.”

“This addresses a larger issue, a larger mental health issue that goes beyond policing,” she said.

In March, VPD Chief Consul Adam Palmer said that despite some high-profile attacks, the number of stranger assaults in Vancouver had fallen by half in the first two months of 2024 compared to the previous year, and violent crime had also declined overall.

2:11
Mental health and recent attacks

However, for some people, like Anna, the statistics may not seem so real after Sunday’s incident.

This is not the first time she has seen people in the area talking to themselves and screaming. However, after this latest incident, she no longer wants to walk in the area and the family is moving away from Vancouver.

“I don’t understand why these people who are going through a mental health crisis aren’t in facilities and getting help,” she said.

“They’re going to hurt themselves or hurt others, and I can’t understand why we in this state just let people wander the streets. They need help and you can’t just leave them to fend for themselves.”

© 2024 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.