Hamilton man stabbed at Woodlands Park encampment in critical but stable condition, police say

Following a weekend stabbing at Woodlands Park, a 37-year-old man remains in critical but stable condition, Hamilton police say.

Investigators will speak to the victim about the serious assault when he's awake.

The assault took place on Saturday, just before noon, police say.

They found the victim, who was living in the park's encampment, without vital signs. Vital signs can include someone's pulse or signs of breathing.

The man was taken to the hospital and underwent emergency surgery, according to police.

Police say officers continue to look for suspects and are asking nearby residents, businesses and vehicle owners to review any security camera footage from that morning for any suspicious activity. 

They've found a weapon, but haven't confirmed if it was used in the stabbing. 

Two other incidents at encampments under investigation

Police are also still investigating an incident at the same park from a month earlier and an incident at another encampment that also happened in June.

On June 19, a car crashed into a tree and tent at the Woodlands Park encampment, police say.

The person living in the tent avoided being hit and was uninjured.

The driver fled the scene, and police say they are still canvassing the area for video and witnesses.

Four days later at an encampment in J.C. Beemer Park, a woman was attacked and slashed with a weapon on June 25, according to police.

The suspect is described as a while man in his late 20s and, at the time of the attack, wearing a "distinctive" salmon-coloured tank top and shorts.

Unhoused people are targets of violence, advocate says

James Lambert with the Hamilton Encampment Support Network told CBC Hamilton the network doesn't know details about the most recent assault at the Woodlands Park encampment, but offered residents with support afterwards. 

"It's important when people hear about incidents like this to recognize it's not encampments that are responsible [and] are not the cause of violence," Lambert said.

City staff are currently developing a strategy on how it should approach Hamilton's encampments and will report back to councillors in August.

That may include sanctioned encampment sites and a protocol for encampments outside of sanctioned sites.

Lambert said people who are unhoused face a disproportionate rate of violence, regardless of whether they are sleeping alone on the street or side-by-side in tents, he said.

Encampments just make the ongoing violence more visible, he said. 

Lambert said this summer encampment residents have also experienced people shooting fireworks and throwing rocks at tents and yelling cruel insults, Lambert said. 

"When councillors and federal and provincial politicians vilify encampments, this translates into real violence," he said. "People coming from other parts of the neighbourhood who have a real hatred toward people living in tents."