Burnaby Central Park still safe, despite recent attacks: RCMP

More violence at Burnaby's Central Park Another violent attack in a popular Burnaby park has residents wondering what's being done to make the area safer.

Mounties are reassuring the public that it's safe to spend time in Burnaby's Central Park after a visitor was put in hospital for the second time this month.

The most recent incident happened around 8:30 p.m. Thursday, when a 22-year-old man was stabbed during some kind of altercation in the northeast area of the park.

The extent of his injuries hasn't been confirmed, but Cpl. Charles Chen said they are not life-threatening.

"It's still a very, very serious incident," he added.

The stabbing comes less than two weeks after another attack in the same park that left a senior severely injured. Mounties said that victim, who is in his mid-70s, could end up paralyzed.

And Central Park was also notoriously the scene of Marrisa Shen’s murder. The 13-year-old’s body was discovered in a wooded area of the park one year ago this month, and investigators are still struggling to identify a suspect.

Burnaby RCMP said they believe the most recent incident is an "isolated occurrence," however, and that there is no risk to the public.

Safety in the park is a top priority for the Burnaby detachment, Chen added, and violent incidents are very rare.

"Central Park is safe and the City of Burnaby is safe," he said. "Of course, these things do happen, but they're very uncommon."

The RCMP has increased foot patrols in the park since Shen's murder, and the city is planning to begin installing surveillance cameras soon. The first of five cameras is expected to go up next month.

No suspects have been arrested in Thursday's stabbing, but Mounties are looking for two men who are both believed to be 40-45 years old.

One suspect is described as a 6' tall First Nations man with a slim build, who was wearing a red shirt and blue pants at the time of the stabbing.

The other is described as a white man, also with a slim build, who was wearing a white shirt and short.

Anyone with information on the stabbing is asked to call the Burnaby RCMP detachment at 604-646-9999, or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.

With files from CTV Vancouver's Penny Daflos