Vancouver Police are investigating a Downtown Eastside stabbing that has left three victims with knife wounds and the suspect dead.
Around 5 p.m., police responded to the First United Church at East Hastings and Gore Street after receiving reports that a man was stabbing people.
When police arrived, they found the suspect wielding a knife outside of the church on Gore Street.
Officers attempted to take the suspect into custody without success and police fired multiple less lethal rounds from a bean bag shotgun in an attempt to control him.
The suspect turned his attention to a woman who was standing nearby and he began to stab her.
Police shot the man.
He was attended to by paramedics and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Two men at the church were treated for non life-threatening injuries. The woman was rushed to hospital with serious injuries, where she remains in critical condition.
The Independent Investigations Office (IIO) was notified by the VPD and their investigators are responding to the scene where they will focus on the shooting.
Detectives from the Vancouver Police Major Crime Section have been called out and are investigating the stabbings.
It is early in the investigation and more information will be provided when it becomes available.
