1 person dead, another in hospital after shooting in Langley residential neighbourhood
One man is dead and another is in hospital with gunshot wounds after several shots were fired in a residential neighbourhood in Langley, B.C., on Tuesday night.
Police said Langley RCMP officers responded to reports of gunfire at 207th Street and 53A Avenue at approximately 11:38 p.m. PT and found a 22-year-old man shot dead inside a vehicle and another man, also in his 20s, alive but injured.
Police say they expect the injured man to survive.
Resident Sandy Diamond said she heard shots ring out sometime between 10:30 p.m. and 11:30 p.m. PT Tuesday.
"It sounded like it was right here," she said.
Ellen Westhaver, who also lives in the neighbourhood, said she heard multiple shots and a vehicle take off soon after.
"One after the other … a whole bunch in a row," she said. "It's scary knowing it's so close to home."
On Wednesday morning, Sgt. Frank Jang of the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) confirmed to CBC that a team of investigators had been deployed to the site of the shooting.
Police tents had been set up in the residential neighbourhood near the scene, where dozens of evidence markers are visible. Investigators were focusing their attention on the shot-up vehicle.
Jang, speaking to media later Wednesday morning, said investigators are also focusing on a second vehicle found on fire Tuesday night less than 10 kilometres away from where the shots were fired.
Surrey RCMP responded to reports of a burning sedan in South Surrey at around 11:52 p.m. PT, Jang said.
The vehicle was located near 180th Street and 19A Avenue and Jang said all possible connections are currently being investigated.
"We're talking 14 minutes and we are talking maybe seven or eight kilometres," said Jang about the likelihood of a link between the shooting and the burning car.
Jang said the latest shooting has "all the hallmarks of a targeted hit" and both the dead and the injured man are known to police.
Police could not confirm at this stage if the shooting is linked to gang violence, but said they believe it may be linked to the drug trade.
As of Jan. 12, five people had been killed in six weeks in gang-related shootings in Metro Vancouver.
Two of those homicides, that of Gary Kang, 24, and Dilraj Johal, 29, took place inside homes, while another victim, Anees Mohammed, 29, was gunned down in Richmond's Steveston Community Park.
Any residents near 207th Street and 53A Avenue with surveillance footage from Tuesday night are asked to contact IHIT. This also applies to anyone with cellphone or dashcam footage who was in the area.
Surrey RCMP are asking the same of anyone with information or video footage related to the burned-out vehicle.
