Transit police said a man who allegedly assaulted a woman on a Vancouver bus has died of an apparent drug overdose.
The incident took place on April 15 when the man allegedly assaulted a woman when she defended two Asian women wearing masks on the bus, pulling out some of her hair as well as leaving her with bruises.
Police initially issued a press release looking for the man on Tuesday, and by Wednesday the man had been identified as a 48-year-old man of no fixed address who had died of an apparent drug overdose one week after the alleged assault. Police said he was well known to them.
This attack is one of a series of assaults and racist comments against Asian people in Metro Vancouver since the COVID-19 pandemic began, as police said they have seen an increase in anti-Asian sentiment in the region.
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