On December 19, a UBC student was stabbed at the McDonald’s on University Boulevard, but it seems to be an isolated incident.

According to CBC, the university RCMP detachment was called at about 5:15am to the University Village and found a man suffering from an apparent stab wound. He was treated at Vancouver General Hospital, and was released before Christmas.

The McDonald’s on campus is open until 3am and attracts post-party goers looking for a late-night snack. Constable Meghan Driscoll from the university’s RCMP detachment said that it is common to get complaints from the area, but they are not usually serious.

“It is one of the only places open late, and people tend to congregate there after hours,” said Driscoll in an e-mail interview. “Mostly calls are noise and disturbance related, and occasionally police attend for reports of people fighting.”

A current employee at the campus McDonald’s, who would not speak on the record, agreed. “The crowd you get between midnight and 3am is university students who have been out drinking and whatever, so we expect it.”

“I think it was an isolated incident and that students shouldn’t really be too worried or not want to come by,” he continued. “I guess the close proximity [of the incident] to McDonald’s might make people scared, but I don’t think it’s something people should be worried about.”

Ameeruddin Zain, a former McDonald’s employee who currently works at Mahony & Sons on campus, said that protocol for dealing with intoxicated customers is that employees are asked to treat them like normal customers and with extra patience and are not advised to encourage aggression.

Zain described one incident while he was employed at the fast-food chain. “One guy stepped inside the food preparation area and tried to make himself an ice cream cone,” Zain explained. “The manager on duty…came out and tried to verbally reason with him. However, the intruder put his hand on [the manager]—at which time [the manager] retaliated back.”

“I intervened in the matter in the capacity of a senior crew member and distanced both of them. The matter cooled down quickly, as the restaurant was busy at that time.”
However, Zain said that he mostly worked night shifts and was not concerned about his safety, and that most intoxicated patrons just bought food and made conversation with him.

“The UBC McDonald’s is one of the safest in the Lower Mainland, and I always had a good time there as far as safety was concerned,” he said.
—with files from Ashley Whillans

(No Ratings Yet)

 Loading ...