Vancouver police say a “number of people have been stabbed,” and a suspect was shot by police in the city’s downtown on Wednesday.

Police said they responded to the “violent incident” near Robson and Hamilton streets.

Witnesses speaking to CBC News said shots were fired near a 7-Eleven close to the Vancouver Central Public Library.

Vancouver police on the scene of what they were calling ‘a violent incident’ near Robson and Hamilton streets on Wednesday. (Ben Nelms/CBC)

They said two people were taken away in ambulances.

Police and fire crews remain on scene. CBC has reached out to police for more details.

‘A terrible scene’: witness

Mainul Islam, a part-time delivery worker who was outside the 7-Eleven, said he witnessed the incident and saw a man brandishing a knife inside the 7-Eleven.

“It’s a terrible scene,” he said.

He said witnesses alerted patrol officers to what had happened and said they arrived within a minute.

Islam estimates that police shot the man 10 times.

Vancouver police officers aim weapons over the counter of a 7-Eleven in downtown Vancouver on Wednesday. (The Canadian Press/Mainul Islam)