Suspect in Newmarket restaurant stabbing attacked Good Samaritan with knife: police

A York Regional Police badge is seen in this undated file image. Dec. 21, 2022.

Police have made an arrest in connection with the stabbing of two people at a restaurant in Newmarket over the weekend, including one individual who investigators believe was trying to stop the attack.

Police were first called to the restaurant near Davis and Longford drives at around 9 p.m. on Sunday for a reported stabbing.

Police say that when officers arrived on scene, they located the suspect outside the restaurant and two victims with stab wounds near the entrance.

Investigators believe that the suspect attacked a 34-year-old man with a knife inside the restaurant and then stabbed a 68-year-old man who attempted to intervene multiple times.

Both victims sustained non-life threatening injuries as a result, police say.

“The altercation moved into the parking lot where citizens intervened and subdued the suspect until police arrived. No one else was injured,” a news release issued by police on Tuesday notes.

A suspect, identified as 40-year-old Newmarket resident Fabian Michael Vassell, is charged with eight offences, including two counts of attempted murder and three counts of assault with a weapon.

Police say that the investigation into the matter remains “ongoing.”