Community reeling after stabbing in downtown Hamilton outside cathedral

Businesses and residents in the area voiced their concerns Wednesday afternoon following a stabbing in broad daylight outside of Christ’s Church Cathedral in Hamilton.

The church is also home to a drop-in café that offers free meals and respite for those in need.

Police have not mentioned the cafe directly in connection with the investigation, but community members believe there is one.

Officers say they responded to the call on James Street North, just south of Barton Street, at around 12:45 p.m., to find a victim suffering from injuries.

“Upon arrival, one victim was located with an injury to their upper body and they’ve since been transported to the hospital,” said Hamilton Police Const. Trevor McKenna. “The accused was arrested on scene and transported to custody. At this point, we’re still working through witnesses and CCTV.”

The area was taped off for around two hours, as investigators gathered evidence including the suspected weapon.

The incident happened outside Christ’s Church Cathedral, which at the time, its Cathedral Café was open.

Jane Wilson from St. Matthew’s says her staff at the cafe informed her of what had happened earlier in the day.

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“Earlier today, someone was attacked on the sidewalk and knew that the program inside Cathedral Cafe, run by St. Matt’s, would be a safe place for him to seek support,” said Wilson.

Community members in the area voiced their concerns about safety to CHCH News, often mentioning the Cathedral Café.

“We’re all aware of the situations that happen, when there are challenges to a community,” said Wilson. “Obviously, safety is the highest concern and so we work every day on that, and we have active programs where we’re looking to connect with the people who can help us address these problems.”

The drop-in café, open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., offers meals and a place to rest for those seeking daytime shelter.

Residents in the area told CHCH News that they’ve witnessed open drug use and are demanding solutions to a problem that has increasingly troubled the city.

Some people say they feel hopeless at the lack of change.

“I was a community service worker, and I quit because it was becoming too stressful for me and now I’m an unpaid community service worker by proximity,” said Amber Boyle, a resident in the neighbourhood.

“A lot of residents are really suffering from compassion fatigue,” said Elizabeth Ward, a resident in the neighbourhood. “We’re tired, I think everybody’s tired of it. Yeah, it’s a very unfortunate situation.”

Small businesses in the area say it has affected their livelihoods.

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“We are a family restaurant and people have stopped coming,” said business owner Mark Morgenstern. “They’re not coming to the restaurant. I have 17 people on payroll and the dining room is empty. Every day there’s something going on.”

“Causing a lot of trouble for us, and it’s scaring our customers,” said Paulo Ferreira, a business owner. “I can guarantee that my sales probably went down between 25 to 30 per cent since this, probably the last two years, have been getting worse and worse.”

Hamilton Councillor for Ward 2 Kameron Kroetsch says he’s paying attention to his constituents’ concerns.

“Other kinds of discussions with people in the community,” said Kroetsch. “We’ve had over 100 and about four or five of them, more centred either on James Street North, or affecting small businesses specifically.”

While there are no more town halls scheduled for the remainder of the year, the councillor says he will continue to work directly with small businesses and residents.

Hamilton police say the victim is currently in stable condition and the accused will remain in custody.