2 stabbed within hours downtown

Two unrelated stabbings happened within hours of each other Thursday around City Centre Mall in downtown Edmonton.

The first incident involved a 14-year-old girl who was stabbed once in the neck and once in the upper arm by a woman around 4 p.m. in a dispute over a cigarette in front of the Stanley Milner Library.

The girl staggered across the street to the southeast entrance of Edmonton City Centre Mall.

Police were called and she was taken to hospital with non life-threatening injuries.  A 24-year-old woman was arrested shortly afterwards and charged with aggravated assault, personal robbery and possession of an offensive weapon.

The victim is in stable condition and her injury is not considered life-threatening. Police believe the two know each other.

A few hours later, a young male was stabbed between the doors of the 101st Street entrance of City Centre Mall.  He was taken to hospital with minor wounds.

Police are well aware of the problems in the downtown core and beat officers are concentrating on the area, Sgt. Robinder Gill said.

Last month, a 30-year-old man was swarmed and stabbed outside the Stanley Milner Library. 

Edmonton Mayor Stephen Mandel said Friday he's been at meetings this week to deal with the congestion problem in front of the library.

Mandel said he would like to move the library's entrance to the southside of the building so it opens up on Centennial Plaza.

He said he hopes changes in the city's budget can be made so the new entrance opens this year.

"You can make that a far more expansive entrance, you can do more landscaping, you can make it more of an intricate part of the library and right now it's not," Mandel told CBC News. 

"It's an empty part of the city."

Mandel said he is also looking into adding more police officers to patrol the downtown core.