'Unprovoked' attacks in Vancouver leave man dead, another with severed hand

A pair of stranger attacks in downtown Vancouver left one man dead and another with a severed hand on Wednesday morning.

A pair of stranger attacks in downtown Vancouver left one man dead and another with a severed hand on Wednesday morning.

Vancouver police say they arrested a 34-year-old suspect in connection with the homicide and assault, adding investigators believe the attacks were "unprovoked."

The Queen Elizabeth Theatre on Hamilton Street was behind police tape Wednesday and a body was visible under a police tent nearby.

Two blocks away, forensic detectives were examining the front door of the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary on Dunsmuir Street, where a trail of blood appeared to connect the church with another crime scene on Homer Street.

"Attacks like these shake our collective sense of comfort and safety, and we're grateful that a suspect was quickly taken into custody by our officers," Vancouver police Chief Adam Palmer said in a statement.

"Although it will take time before we have all of the answers, it does not appear either victim knew the suspect, and we believe these attacks were completely random."

Police were called to the area of the cathedral at 7:38 a.m. where a man in his 50s had suffered a severed hand and knife wounds to his head. The man was taken to hospital for emergency treatment and is expected to survive, police said.