Police are appealing for witnesses to come forward after the stabbing death of a 17 year old man at the Japan House Restaurant on Kingsway Avenue near Slocan Street early this morning.
Investigators are still trying to determine what led up to the altercation between two groups at the restaurant that resulted in the death of this young man. The victim is known to police, but there is no indication that he was associated to any known or organized gang. It is early in the investigation, but police do not believe that the stabbing was directly linked to any specific criminal activity.
There were a number of people in the restaurant, not associated to either group, when the incident occurred. Many of those individuals left before police arrived and detectives would like to speak with everyone that was there at the time of the stabbing.
This dispute escalated quickly and police believe the person who stabbed the victim was part of a larger group of men and women that were not directly involved in the altercation. Police feel that they will have important information that could help identify the person responsible.
The name of the victim is not being released until Monday.
Anyone with information and have not yet spoken to police is asked to contact the VPD Major Crime Section at (604) 717-2500 or Crime Stoppers at 1 (800) 222-8477.
