Gang associate dead in Surrey shooting; car found on fire in Burnaby
Credit to Author: Kim Bolan| Date: Tue, 03 Dec 2019 15:07:23 +0000
A young associate of the Brothers Keepers gang was shot dead in Surrey on Sunday night and another man was left with serious injuries.
The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team is working with Surrey RCMP after the double shooting, which happened at about 11 p.m. in the 13600-block of 114th Avenue, near 136A Street.
IHIT Sgt. Frank Jang said both victims are known to police, Metro Vancouver residents and in their 20s.
Postmedia News has confirmed the identity of the 21-year-old killed in the targeted shooting, but is waiting until his family is notified before publishing his name. He was associated with the BK, which has been locked in a bloody Lower Mainland gang conflict with rivals from at least two other groups. The victim has no criminal record, according to the online court database.
The BK has connections to the Hardside chapter of the Hells Angels, which has had two full-patch members slain in just over a year.
“It is early in the investigation, but what I can tell you right now is that our two victims — the deceased and our surviving male — are both known to police. We don’t believe this was random. We believe this was a targeted incident,” Jang told reporters.
He said investigators, who are working with Surrey RCMP and the forensic identification team, want anyone with information about the shooting, or with dashcam footage from the area, to contact them at 1-877-551-4448 or ihitinfo@rcmp-grc.gc.ca.
“Dashcam video is proving to be crucial to our investigations,” Jang said.
So far, no motive has been established in the shooting.
Jang also said investigators are looking at whether a burning vehicle found in Burnaby shortly after the shooting could have been used by the killer or killers. Just minutes after the gunshots were reported in Surrey, Burnaby RCMP received reports of a car on fire at Fraser Foreshore Park, near Fraser Park Drive and Byrne Road.
“We are looking into that, but certainly there is no definitive link,” Jang said.
Police haven’t yet spoken to the survivor given the seriousness of his injuries — “there will be a time for that and certainly we are going to speak to that,” Jang said. “It is terrible what happened. It is a concern for us whenever there is a shooting in our community.”