Man, 30, charged following weekend stabbing of international student

EDMONTON – Edmonton police have charged a man following an assault at a transit station over the weekend.

Around 9:30 p.m. on Saturday, EPS was called to the University LRT station for a stabbing complaint from transit officials.

Officers say a student was followed off the train as he exited at that station and the suspect was harassing the student as he walked.

*(Deleting previous tweets, the victim doesn't want his name used so as not to worry his family back in China)

An international student at the @ualberta was stabbed this weekend on the LRT University LRT platform. He says no bystanders helped him #YEG #yegtransit pic.twitter.com/RsaLuq3Tq2

— Carly Robinson (@CarlyDRobinson) April 26, 2021

The victim, who doesn’t want to be identified, says his harasser to leave him alone, and that’s when he was assaulted.

The suspect also pulled out a knife and stabbed the student in his arm before taking off.

David Durocher, 30, was charged with aggravated assault and two counts of possession of a weapon.

The U of A’s president and vice-chancellor says he’s deeply concerned by the attack.

“Although preliminary accounts suggest that the attack was not racially motivated, we want to reaffirm our commitment to providing a safe and secure environment for our diverse university community,” said Bill Flanagan in a statement posted to the university’s website.

The University of Alberta’s International Student’s Association (ISA), in partnership with the Chinese Students and Scholars Association (CSSA) and the New Chinese Generation Leadership Development (NCG), condemned the attack.

Also, at this time he does NOT believe he was racially targeted or that this was an anti-Asian hate crime.

The International Students Association are supporting him and calling for better security/quicker response times for LRT stations #yeg https://t.co/FGjEWgcvnQ

— Carly Robinson (@CarlyDRobinson) April 26, 2021

“This incident came as a shock to the entire international students’ community at the University of Alberta and we as the associations, stand united on raising student voices,” reads a statement from the three groups.

The statement goes on to call for a stronger EPS presence at LRT stations.

“International students are most dependent on public transit and thus as a city, it is the responsibility of the local authorities to ensure that our public transit is safe to use. This incident also highlights the stronger need for EPS to be engaged on the Campus Security.”

The ETS said in a statement to CityNews safety of its riders is the top priority and incidents like these are taken very seriously.

“The ETS Control Centre quickly called 9-1-1, and the Edmonton Police Service was on-scene in approximately nine minutes. Through quick communication and video surveillance on transit, EPS made an arrest near University Avenue and 114 Stree,” the ETS branch manager, Carrie Hotton-MacDonald, said.