One Nanaimo woman was sent to hospital with life-threatening injuries after being randomly and violently attacked on Wednesday night.
At approximately 10:00 p.m., the 30-year-old Nanaimo woman was walking at Maffeo Sutton Park near the crab dock along the waterfront when she was repeatedly stabbed several times by an unknown male.
Police say that the attack was only stopped by the actions of 5 bystanders who intervened and held the suspect on the ground until officers arrived.
The woman was then transported to hospital for life-threatening injuries and is now in stable condition.
The suspect, a 17-year-old male youth from Nanaimo with connections to the Lower Mainland, is set to appear in court today.
Police say that they have not been able to establish any connection between the victim and the suspect and are treating the incident as a random crime.
“Random crimes are extremely rare in our community and in any community,” said Cst. Gary O’Brien of the Nanaimo RCMP.
“However, they do happen and we would like to acknowledge the efforts of the bystanders who put themselves in harms way and who prevented further attack and possibly saved this woman’s life.”
Anyone who has information on the incident and has not yet spoken to police is asked to contact Nanaimo RCMP at 250-754-2345.
