Homicide investigators in the Lower Mainland are probing three separate shootings that killed five people in less than 24 hours over the weekend.
The first two victims were discovered early Sunday morning at a heavily-fenced property near the Coquihalla Highway in Hope.
The victims’ names have not been released.
Hours later, at around supper time, Mounties received a frantic call about an injured man at 76th Avenue and 168th Street in Surrey.
Twenty-seven-year-old Manjot Dhillon was found shot in the middle of the road. He was taken to Royal Columbian Hospital for treatment, but was pronounced dead shortly after arriving.
Then, just before midnight, police were called to the parking lot of an apartment building near 128th Street and 94th Avenue, where two more men had been gunned down.
Witnesses reported hearing five to six shots fired. Neither victim survived.
Investigators have yet to connect any of the three shootings, and criminologist Rob Gordon said it’s entirely possible they have nothing to do with each other.
“There’s a danger of over-linking. Sometimes you just get a cluster of killings that tragically occur around the same time,” Gordon said.
None of the motives have been confirmed, but Sgt. Jennifer Pound of the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team said Monday that Dhillon’s shooting “does appear to be targeted.”
It’s unclear whether the shooting was gang-related. Court documents show Dhillon had several previous convictions for drug possession and trafficking.
None of the other victims’ names have yet been released.
Anyone with information on any of the shootings is asked to call IHIT at 1-877-551-448 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 if they wish to remain anonymous.
With a report from CTV British Columbia’s Julia Foy
