A man is fighting for his life in a Halifax hospital while police try to track down the person who stabbed him.
Police responded to Spring Garden Road, near Dresden Row, shortly after 10 p.m. Saturday.
They say the victim was standing on the street when he was approached by the suspect, who stabbed him repeatedly in the upper body.
“It was rather loud outside. I thought it was just a regular fight, but then with the screaming, I thought something else was going on,” says Tara MacKay, who works nearby.
“I looked out and couldn’t really see, but I saw the guy take off and she was still screaming.”
MacKay says she had no idea someone had been stabbed until she checked the surveillance video where she works. Cameras captured the horrific scene and the video is now in the hands of police.
“You could see him get his knife out and hold it very close,” says MacKay. “It was hidden, and walking forward, he made a beeline for that particular gentleman and he went at him over and over again, stabbing him several times, and the guy was trying to protect himself.”
In the video, a friend of the victim is also seen fighting to get the knife away from his attacker.
“If his friend wasn’t there, the guy probably wouldn’t be alive right now, fighting for his life,” says MacKay.
Police say a concerned citizen drove the victim to the Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Centre, where he remains with life-threatening injuries.
“We have trained paramedics and firefighters in HRM and that’s their job, but this person felt he needed immediate medical attention and rushed him to hospital,” says Halifax Regional Police Staff Sgt. Bill Morris.
“It puts everyone at risk, but you can’t condemn the man. He might have saved his life.”
Police say the stabbing is not a random act as the victim and suspect are known to one another.
Police are trying to track down the suspect, who will face attempted murder and weapons charges.
With files from CTV Atlantic's Marie Adsett
