Patrons Hammered in Downtown Vancouver Gay Club - Majestic

Is this why Thrulow street was blocked off? The cops taped off the area in front of that church and some of the patio at the Characters restaurant. It looked to me like they were investigating a murder.  Maybe some people at the bar chased the guy down after.

I work as a door girl at the club in question and saw the whole thing.
Just to provide a couple details and clear up rumors.

The attacks do not appear to be a hate crime or incident of gay bashing at all. This comes from not only the police, but also myself, and some of the other witnesses  that I spoke to.

It was random. Completely Random.

4 patrons and 2 staff members were hit and injured. 5 total from our establishment taken to hospital but no one appeared to be seriously injured and need more then stitches, but I am not a Dr.

The attack lasted a matter of seconds and was not provoked in anyway. The attacker ran out of our club and attack an unknown to me (but small number, from what I over heard) of people in the street before being subdued by a female victims husband and arrested by police.

He never said a word the entire time.

Thank you Tori B for the further details.  I'm sad to say this appears to be yet another random act of violence.

This is from a Vancouver Police press release dated August 4:

"Vancouver - Just after 10pm on Sunday night Vancouver Police received numerous calls to 9-1-1 of a man in the 1100 block of Davie Street assaulting people at random with a hammer. According to investigators, an emotionally disturbed man entered the Tutti Convenience Store at 1126 Davie Street and tried to leave without paying for some items. When confronted by a staff member he ran out of the store. He then went to the Majestic Restaurant and Lounge at 1138 Davie St. and without warning, struck a man in the head with a hammer knocking him to the ground unconscious. He continued on what would become a spree of violent random assaults by next striking a doorman from Majestic in the head as well as three patrons on the patio. The man then fled the restaurant but not before he struck one more person in the head on the way out. He walked down to Characters Restaurant at 1103 Davie St. and attacked 2 women sitting on the patio with their backs to the street. He struck both of the women in the head and that's when their male companion jumped the railing and chased after the man. At one point the crazed man turned and pointed what later turned out to be an imitation handgun at the man. The suspect attempted to flee but was tackled by the man who was also struck in the head with the hammer. Police members flooded the area and located the two men struggling near Thurlow and Davie St. Other citizens had jumped in to assist in holding the man for police who was taken into custody.

A 31 year old middle eastern man with a history of mental illness is now in custody facing the following charges:

9 counts of aggravated assault
1 count of uttering threats
1 count of possession of an imitation firearm
2 counts of possession of a dangerous weapon
1 count of possession of a prohibited weapon
1 count of possession of a prohibited device
Theft under $5000

Police seized an imitation firearm, two knives and a claw hammer.

Of the seven men and two women between the ages of 22 - 40 years that were assaulted, six were treated in hospital for injuries sustained in the attacks and all were released except for two who remained overnight in hospital for observation of more serious head injuries. Three were treated by BC Ambulance at the scene and released. None of the injuries are considered life-threatening."

Thank you for the full update Rob.  There seems to be a lot of people making headlines this week who are suffering from mental illness.  It is hard to imagine what is going on in these peoples heads but I do hope that this is not a trend of which we are about to see more of. 

As A gay man in Vancouver who does not go out clubbing alot, I choose to go out to establishments were I feel safe. It's sad to say but, go to any straight bar/ club and you know you will be screened at the door, however not at all gay establishemtns will you get such a screening. The gay dance club Numbers now does this (metal detector, checking of ID as well as a body search for weapons etc)  I must admit that it puts me at ease some to attend a club were I feel they are looking out for my safety. Perhaps all clubs should wake up to the year we live in and protect it's patrons. I think this is a horrific thing to happen any day of the year regardless of it being on pride weekend. Events like this tend to draw attention. Maybe the rest of the gay clubs in Vancouver will learn from this and pay a bit more attention to protecting the people in it's clubs. I truely hope everyone that was hurt recovers well. My heart goes out to you and to those who had to be witness to this awful act be it a hate crime or not.

I was at the club when this happened and was not one of the people who was hit, but was there with someone who was.

I just have to say that the police were quick to arrive and respond and ultimately I think that's what lead to the guy being captured. I don't know how "random" this was. I think that the whole thing definitely was random in who he chose to attack, but I have a hard time believing that any event where a guy brings two knives, an imitation gun and a hammer into a setting like the Majestic is "random." This guy had a black hat, sunglasses and gloves on and was dressed like a "hood" for lack of a better term. He was looking for trouble and found it. He could've randomly gone to any place, but happened to choose a gay bar on pride weekend. I'm not saying that this was a hate crime - but I do have issues accepting the "randomness" of it.

Also, just for clarification, I'm a hetrosexual male.

Great follow up to the posts for clarification.

The title of this article is very misleading.  It should read instead "Patrons hammered in Downtown Gay Bar (or nightclub)" 

Yes, the Majestic is a Gay Nightclub, but to label everyone who goes there as gay is a misnomer.  This is just like saying all people watching the Pride parade were gay.   Generalizations are dangerous and harmful.

It is truly unfortunate what happened at The Majestic.  It was just getting off it's feet as a nightclub.  Let's keep on showing our support for this great club.  The city can't afford to lose another space to dance and have fun with friends, family and loved ones, regardless of sexual orientation.

Actually I agree with you about that and will change it.  The title was done at 2am this morning when I was tired and could not think how to phrase it.  I did however what to draw attention to the story so I apologize if I have offended anyone.

Off topic but yet another person died at f212 on Davie Street this past Wednesday.  That makes two men in less than 6 months.  Going to see any news about that? Doubt it.

This report was picked up by a Boston news outfit here.

Oh look at that :)

Just to clear things up - only one woman was hit on the Character's patio. I was working there.  The people who apprehended him were two men running from Davie up Thurlow, presumable someone they knew had been hit - he was not apprehended by a female.

The man is known for trolling the gay online chat sites such as Manhunt.  He used to go under the profile name 'Studbunny'.  Oddly, he would hit on people and then send them threatening emails.  The site operators just used to tell people to block him but they would not remove him.  He has been doing this online stuff since the late 90's.

Hopefully he'll get the help he needs but from what I know, this is not his first incident where the police had to get involved.

I think we all made this story happen!  Thanks for the good stuff.

So as someone who's actually old enough to have encountered the Studbunny, personally, face to face, it's pretty obvious he's such a legend some people don't have a clue what they're even talking about.

Unless he's changed his name, and magically become over a decade younger -- it wasn't the Studbunny. It's too bad he became the gay community's version of the Bogeyman back in the mid-90s. He's a legend, and while he's still out there using his CAPS LOCK and making some people afraid for their online lives.... it's just not the same guy. One improperly-medicated psychopath does NOT equal another.

Oh and, MMH? or MMJ... or MMK MMI MML or any other name you wanna use -- try to use a little more brain power for your next contribution. Don't throw your trivial knowledge around as fact.