Son arrested after father stabbed
A 24-year-old Saanich man is in custody after his father was stabbed late Saturday night.
The injured man, bleeding heavily, fled his home in the 500-block of Marsett Place just before midnight and sought help at Berwick Royal Oak, a nearby retirement home.
Police called out the Greater Victoria Emergency Response team because they thought the son had potentially barricaded himself in the family home.
“It was three hours of containment, of officers trying to make contact inside the house, but as luck would have it he had already left,” Saanich police Sgt. Dean Jantzen said.
A uniformed police officer searching the area spotted a man running across the Patricia Bay Highway nearby. The man turned out to be the son of the stabbing victim and he was arrested without incident.
The victim was transported to hospital and was treated for non life-threatening defence wounds. He was released that night.
Jantzen said investigators are still trying to piece together the events that led to the stabbing.
“There was some type of altercation between father and son, and what led to the escalation of the incident will form part of our investigation,” he said.
Police say alcohol likely played a role in the incident. As well, Jantzen said investigators are asking that a psychiatric evaluation be conducted on the son.
Mark Peter Blair faces one count of attempted murder. He remains in custody and is expected to appear in court again next Monday.
kslavin@saanichnews.com