‘He was stabbed pretty good:’ one hospitalized after downtown Nanaimo altercation

“When our members responded, we also provided first aid. He was then taken for medical treatment with serious injuries. At this point we haven’t made an arrest, but we’re quite confident we’re moving forward with this.”

O’Brien said “several people” witnessed the stabbing.

Police are looking to speak with additional witnesses or secure video footage which could advance their investigation.

Pools and droplets of blood were seen in multiple locations, including on the sidewalk around the bus stop near the Port Place covered parking lot, and on the ground closer to the Centre’s south entrance near London Drugs. (Image Credit: Ian Holmes/NanaimoNewsNOW)

Nanaimo Fire Rescue crews were tasked with cleaning up a considerable amount of blood from the covered seating area.

Multiple people were at the mall at the time of the stabbing, including an anonymous man who didn’t witness the stabbing itself, but responded seconds later.

The man told NanaimoNewsNOW he knew the stabbing victim, but not well.

“Buddy was bothering some girl, and some girl stabbed him. That’s what the story was he said…he was stabbed pretty good in the arm.”

The man said he tied off the victim’s arm to try to stop the bleeding while “his arm was going purple”.

“He just came out of there and he’s screaming, hysterical, like ‘I’m going to die, I’m going to die.’ And I was like, ‘no buddy you’re ok, I’ve had worse,’ laughs.”

The witnesses said the man was passing out and regained his senses.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Nanaimo RCMP non-emergency number at 1-250-754-2345.

NFR members used their hoses to wash away the blood at the downtown bus exchange on Thursday night. (Image Credit: Ian Holmes/NanaimoNewsNOW)

In response to numerous stabbings and assaults in the vicinity of Port Place Shopping Centre in recent months and years, Cst. O’Brien said sadly violence is associated with some people dealing with addiction and housing insecurity issues.

“That’s the reality of what we’re dealing with. Our priority, regardless of who we’re working with, is the safety of everybody and the security of everybody in the community.”

The severity of violence in the area has been a concern for the last several years.

A 50-year-old man was stabbed twice in Feb. 2021 after a brief altercation involving COVID-19 distance requirements.

A Nanaimo woman was sentenced to two years behind bars for violently stabbing a man several times in the head as he slept in August 2022 across from the Port Place mall.

A 38-year-old Nanaimo man was given a seven-year jail sentence for fatally stabbing another man outside of Port Place in January 2023.

A February 2023 axe attack near the mall involving two marginalized people resulted in serious injuries to a man who suffered extensive head wounds.

A man received serious injuries after being stabbed in the parking lot of TD Bank behind Port Place in April 2025.

Social disorder and violence involving youth has also been an issue in the area of the downtown shopping centre, including an incident this past February involving armed boys assaulting a vulnerable man.

In March, an altercation between several armed people and two unhoused individuals resulted in the vulnerable men bear sprayed, resulting in minor injuries and three men arrested.

NanaimoNewsNOW has also reported numerous violent shoplifting incidents from inside Port Place Shopping Centre, which have been referenced in various Nanaimo RCMP media releases and court judgments over the last several years.

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by NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

‘He was stabbed pretty good:’ one hospitalized after downtown Nanaimo altercation

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