Vancouver police investigate city's first homicide of 2021

Vancouver police say a 40-year-old man died of stab wounds at the Gastown Hotel on Water Street early Sunday.

The death marks the city's first homicide of the year.

Police were called to the single-room occupancy building at around5:30 a.m. PT and discovered two people who had been stabbed.

Police have not released the gender of the second victim but say the person is28 years oldand from Vancouver. They were taken to hospital with serious, but non-life-threatening injuries.

Arrest made

Police say they arrested a 48-year-old Vancouver man near the scene of the stabbing. He remains in custody.

Anyone with information is asked to call VPD's Homicide Unit at 604-717-2500 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.

There were 19homicides in Vancouver in 2020.The five-year average between2016 and2020 was 15 per year.