Drug overdose deaths are down by 24 per cent between April last year and this April, but still B-C’s Coroner says 182 people died.
Fentanyl remains the primary killer, with the drug detected in 82 per cent of test results for those who died so far this year.
The coroner’s service says nearly half of those who overdosed were between the ages of 30 and 49.
The latest figures lift the number of deaths since the public health emergency was declared eight years ago to 14-thousand 582 people.
Vancouver police say they received a 911 call around 6:45 p.m. about a person acting erratically on the Granville Street Bridge. Police say when they arrived, there was an altercation between a man and officers. The man was shot and killed by police.
North Vancouver Mayor Linda Buchanan says in a statement that former councillor Bob Fearnley and his daughter both died in an early morning blaze Thursday in the city's Delbrook neighbourhood.
The statement from Vancouver police says 34-year-old Jeff Jeanty died in a suspicious fire on Jan. 3, but due to the "sensitive nature" of the investigation, few details could be provided at the time. The woman, in her 20s with a fair complexion, is described as 5’8” tall, with a small to medium build.
The investigation resulted in CFSEU-BC executed 13 search warrants between October 13, 2022 and January 23, 2023 in several Peace Region communities and 23 people were arrested and released pending charge approval and the judicial process.
The 74-year-old victim was standing at a bus stop near Main and Keefer streets at 5:30 a.m. when a stranger walked up behind her and pushed her to the ground. The woman was taken to hospital for non-life-threatening injuries.
VPD officers, who had been patrolling the area after reports of a group of teens knocking over planters and kicking doors, located the injured victim, then arrested the suspects nearby.