Saturday, April 11, 2015
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – The local African community is expressing its grief, after learning a man from Somalia was the victim of a police shooting in the Downtown Eastside Thursday.
The man was apparently a regular in the Downtown Eastside.
According to one of the African-Canadians who showed up at a small memorial at the site of the shooting, the man’s name was Abduqani Hersi.
Ayisha says Somali refugees like Hersi carry scars that don’t disappear once they arrive in Canada.
“They came here for peace of mind. Unfortunately, there’s no peace of mind here for some of them. Some of them came traumatized. Some of them have mental illness due to what they witnessed.”
She says it’s sad that a man who took refuge in Canada was shot outside a place that provides refuge in the Downtown Eastside.
“He’s got mental illness. This is what police don’t realize. These people are from war-torn zones. They’ve been through many countries before coming to Canada.”
Police were called to the First United Church on Hastings late Friday afternoon, after receiving word a man was stabbing people outside the church.
Police were unable to subdue him with a beanbag shotgun, and he managed to critically injure a woman who was standing nearby.
That’s when police shot him at the entrance to the church parkade. He did not survive his injuries.
The coroner has yet to confirm his identity.