A man allegedly caught on camera sucker-punching a stranger in Vancouver’s downtown last month has been charged with assaulting two more people in random attacks in the previous week.
Zachary Tyrell Shettell is now facing three assault charges in relation to a series of incidents that have underscored fears about public safety in Vancouver.
According to police, Shettell was arrested last week following the release of a video showing a man being punched in the face and knocked to the ground on Nov. 28 outside the Hudson’s Bay building in the heart of the city.
Shettell has since been charged with assaulting a 29-year-old man a few blocks to the north on Nov. 24. He then allegedly assaulted a 35-year-old man near the Vancouver Art Gallery the next day.
“Police do not believe any of the victims knew the suspect or had any prior interaction with him before being assaulted,” police said in a statement.
Questions around the safety of Vancouver’s streets have emerged as a major talking point for citizens following a string of violent incidents in the past year.
Last week, police shot and killed a man who allegedly attacked two people in a 7-Eleven after stealing a bottle of liquor from a bar across the road.
In September, one man was killed, and another was seriously injured in what police described as unprovoked, random attacks.
And the previous spring, a man with a history of mental illness was accused of stabbing a stranger in the heart of the city after a series of attacks on strangers over the course of a few hours.
Speaking to CBC last week after the police shooting, Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim — who has frequently expressed frustration with the threats to public safety — called the latest incident “devastating.”
“There’s a lot of anger, actually,” he said.
“We can talk about how crime’s down, violence, assaults are down, but when these things happen, they’re jarring, and they really impact the entire community.”