VPD makes arrests as guns infiltrate tent city

Four men are facing multiple charges after Vancouver Police seized guns from inside the Hastings Street encampment Sunday morning.

"We’re growing increasingly concerned for public safety in and around the encampment," says Sergeant Steve Addison. "Violence against the public and against our officers is on the rise throughout the Downtown Eastside, and the proliferation of guns in the encampment increases the risk to everyone."

VPD officers responded around 8 a.m. Sunday, after receiving information that guns and drugs were being stored inside a tent near East Hastings and Carrall Street. With assistance from VPD’s Emergency Response Team, the officers arrested four men and seized two guns, including a loaded shotgun that was found inside a tent.

Investigators believe the weapons were being used for protection and to intimidate other people in the encampment.

The four suspects, a 40-year-old from Vancouver, a 23-year-old from Burnaby, and two men in their twenties from Surrey – are due back in court in October.