One man is dead and another sustained minor injuries after a shooting Tuesday evening in Surrey, B.C., that investigators believe could be gang-related. The Surrey Police Service said officers responded just before 7 p.m. to reports of shots fired into a vehicle in the 6800 block of 148 Street in the city’s Newton area. One man with gunshot wounds was declared dead at the scene while another man was taken to hospital with minor injuries, police said. Authorities have since identified the deceased as a 25-year-old Surrey resident. Police have not released his name, as they were still working to notify his family as of Wednesday afternoon. Video of the incident obtained by CTV News shows the victim’s vehicle starting to reverse out of the driveway of a home when a dark-coloured sedan drives up and blocks it from getting out. Two shooters then jump out of the car and run toward the victim’s car. The shooting itself is not captured, but the surviving victim can be seen crawling away from the scene moments later. The B.C. RCMP’s Integrated Homicide Investigation Team has taken over the investigation into the slaying. In a news release, the RCMP said the shooting appears “isolated and targeted,” with early indications “suggesting” ties to the province’s deadly gang conflict. Staffing controversy The incident re-ignited conversations over SPS staffing levels—specifically, the temporary re-assignment of members of the Gang Enforcement Unit to meet other demands, like the ongoing extortion crisis, as well as the force’s expansion into Cloverdale, which took place earlier this month. SPS Chief Norm Lipinski said back in February that the B.C. government denied their request to delay the city’s transition away from the RCMP. “This is absolutely unacceptable,” Surrey-Cloverdale MLA Elenore Sturko told CTV News Wednesday. “One of the reasons why we were encouraged to have a municipal police force and do this transition was because of the persistent gang problem, we were promised that this would improve the situation.” Sturko, a former RCMP spokesperson, said it’s the responsibility of Solicitor General Nina Krieger to ensure there’s adequate policing. “They have created an absolute policing shortage throughout the region,” she said. Krieger said there’s still a good level of gang enforcement happening, despite the re-assignments. “Surrey police are reinforced every day by the B.C. RCMP and when it comes to combatting gang violence by CFSEU, our Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit, which is the largest integrated unit combatting (gang) and gun violence in the country,” said Krieger. “Having the provincial CFSEU is not enough because prior to this transition, we had CFSEU and a Surrey gang enforcement team,” said Sturko. “So we shouldn’t have to get rid of our gang team that we obviously need.” Call for witnesses Investigators said no arrests have been made and there is no information on possible suspects. In a statement, RCMP spokesperson Staff Sgt. Kris Clark said investigators are interviewing a “large number of potential witnesses,” and asked anyone with information on the shooting or victims to come forward. Investigators are also looking for CCTV or dash-cam video taken between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. Tuesday in the area of 148 Street between 72 and 64 avenues, or 96 Avenue between 123 and 125 streets—including alleyways. A burned vehicle was discovered roughly 45 minutes after the shooting in an alleyway several blocks from the scene of the gunfire. Police have not confirmed whether the vehicle fire is connected to the deadly shooting. Anyone with information related to the incident is asked to contact IHIT at 1-877-551-IHIT (4448) or ihitinfo@rcmp-grc.gc.ca.
