No charges against those arrested in Nanaimo murder investigation: RCMP

Three days after a 29-year-old man with a developmental disability was stabbed to death in a downtown park, the Nanaimo RCMP say the people who were arrested in connection with the murder have been released from custody without charges.

Mounties were called to Maffeo Sutton Park, along the city's waterfront, at 11:30 p.m. Monday for an initial complaint that a group of youths were intimidating a security guard.

As police searched the area for the perpetrators, an officer discovered a man suffering from stab wounds and another man who had been attacked with bear spray, police said Tuesday.

The stabbing victim, who was from Nanaimo, was taken to the Nanaimo Regional General Hospital where he was pronounced dead, police said.

The victim's friend, a 22-year-old man, was treated at the scene and released.

The Mounties said Tuesday that two male suspects, aged 17 and 19, were arrested near the scene of the attack and investigators were seeking a third person in connection with the incident.

However, Nanaimo RCMP spokesperson Const. Gary O'Brien said in an update Thursday that "several individuals" were arrested following the attack and all of them have been released without any pending charges.

"This investigation is only in the early stages and much needs to be done before police are in a position to forward charges to Crown counsel," O'Brien said in a statement.

"Investigators are aggressively pursuing this file and doing everything that is necessary to gather evidence and establish who is responsible for this homicide."

Anyone who was in Maffeo Sutton Park between 10:30 p.m. and midnight on Monday and witnessed an altercation is asked to contact the Nanaimo RCMP at 250-754-2345.