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Vancouver police investigating Downtown Eastside homicide

The Vancouver Police Department (VPD) says it is investigating after a fatal stabbing in the Downtown Eastside early Wednesday.

Officers were called to the area of East Hastings and Columbia Street shortly after 2:30 a.m. after witnesses called 911.

Police say the victim — 49-year-old James Andrew Slater — was taken to hospital, where he later died.

The VPD says a man and a woman have been arrested but no charges have been laid at this time.

Anyone with information is asked to call the VPD’s Major Crime Section at 604-717-2500.

This is the city’s fourth homicide of the year, according to police.