Does Vancouver Police Department owe an apology to Yaletown residents for recent news release?

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      This week, Vancouver police told the media that a murder had taken place in Yaletown.

      According to a VPD news release, 37-year-old man, Christopher Thomas Schiller, "was likely involved in an altercation in Cooper's [sic] Park, just east of the Cambie Street Bridge near Marinaside Crescent".

      He walked up to the Parq Casino near Smithe Street and Pacific Boulevard before 1:30 a.m. on April 26 and asked staff for help. Schiller was rushed to hospital but didn't survive.

      The VPD is seeking the public's assistance and no arrests have been made.

      Whenever a murder occurs in a neighbourhood, it leaves a negative impression with the public.

      This is especially so for a neighbourhood like Yaletown, which is a regional destination for shoppers and restaurant patrons.

      But did this murder actually occur in Yaletown, as the Vancouver police have asserted?

      Well, not really.

      Coopers' Park and the Parq Casino actually fall within the boundary of the emerging neighbourhood of Northeast False Creek, which is just south and mostly to the east of Yaletown.

      This city document shows the boundary of Northeast False Creek, which includes Coopers' Park and the Parq Casino.

      Yaletown is the historic warehouse district north of B.C. Place Stadium. It includes Hamilton, Mainland, and Hornby streets.

      This map shows that Coopers' Park is outside of Yaletown.

      So does the VPD owe an apology to Yaletown residents and businesses for wrongly identifying their neighbourhood as the site of a grisly murder?

      One of the best known and most popular establishments in the district is, of course, Yaletown Brewing Co., which is owned by the Mark James Group.

      Yes, that's the same Mark James who has sat on the board of the Vancouver police board and has been a trustee of the Vancouver Police Foundation.

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