Police got multiple reports of a man with an axe outside of a Vancouver grocery store on Monday (July 18), and TikTok witnessed it too.
It was reported that a man had threatened another man with his axe at the entrance to the IGA grocery store on Robson Street.
Police arrived shortly after and made two arrests, taking both people into custody with no charges yet laid. They also confirmed that the axe was, in fact, a hatchet.
"One man was found in possession of the hatchet. And that incident is still under investigation. There's no indication at this time that the two people knew each other," Sgt. Steve Addison told Vancouver Is Awesome over the phone.
It wasn't long before footage of the incident took off on TikTok. A second video was shared afterwards showing the first person's arrest (not of the man with the hatchet, who is seen sitting behind the police officers).
"It appears that the second person in the video had stepped in when he observed a disturbance happening at the grocery store," explains Addison.
Addison also adds that, despite knives, hatchets and bear sprays often being used in assault, they can be legally owned. "These are objects that people can legally own and use for legitimate purposes. Once somebody [uses them] during a criminal offence, it then becomes a weapon and therefore unlawful," he says.
@vancouveraction Man pulls an axe to a man in Vancouver downtown robson and richard street altercation :0 thankfully nobody was injured since the cops areived at the scene #downtownvancouver #downtown #vanocuver #vancouverbc #englishbay ♬ original sound - Coco
