Homeless man charged with stabbing Vancouver senior

A30-year-old homeless man has been chargedwith attempted murderafter a senior was stabbed in the chestin a downtown Vancouver coffee shop Wednesday afternoon.

Charged is Mohamed Amer, believed to be from Ottawa.

Vancouver police say the 71-year-oldvictim was sitting by himself at the Waves coffee shop on the 400 block of West Hastings Street near the downtown SFU campus when a man not known to him sat down next to him.

"Suddenly and without provocation or anything being said, the unknown man allegedly took a knife and stabbed the elderly man in the chest," said Const. Lindsey Houghton.

As customers rushed to help the man, the attacker simply waited for police to arrive, Houghton said.

The senior is in critical conditionin hospital.

Policearereferring Amer for a psychiatric assessment.

The attack comes as police in Surreyannounce the arrest of a 19-year-old suspectin two apparent random attacks onTransLink buses in recent days.