An ongoing conflict between two groups of young men in Abbotsford has claimed the life of an innocent bystander.

The 74-year-old grandfather was wounded when gunmen opened fire on a vehicle in a neighbouring driveway, at a home in the 3500-block of Promontory Court. The man was apparently standing by his fence on the phone when he was shot.

Police arrived shortly after 7 p.m. to find an Acura in the driveway with at least five bullet holes. A silver Dodge was also damaged by gunfire.

The victim, who was pronounced dead at the scene, was discovered by his son. He lives next door to a home that is well known to police and it’s believed the shooting is part of the ongoing conflict raging on the west side of the city.

“This was essentially a neighbour standing by a fence at the time of the targeted shooting next door,” Const. Ian MacDonald told CTV Vancouver.

“[This is] an absolute horrible tragedy, worst case scenario in many ways,” MacDonald said.

Police have not said who may have been the intended target of the violence and no arrests have been made.

The shooting happened half a block away from where police surveillance cameras are mounted. The cameras were placed there to address the 18 months of gun violence between South Asian men in the area.

Surveillance video obtained by CTV Vancouver, taken from a neighbouring home, shows a black suspect vehicle driving into the area before shots were heard, and speeding away from the area shortly afterwards.

“He was speeding fast around the corner, so pretty scary, upsetting. The kids were really upset,” said neighbour Lori Wilton.

MacDonald said the incident should serve as a “wake-up call to everyone in the community that they have to assist police and we have to restore public safety.”

“[This] completely innocent senior who was doing nothing wrong except being outside his own property, who should absolutely have the right to feel safe in his own community was very unsafe and made unsafe by people who are involved in this conflict.”

The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team has taken over the case. Anyone with information about this incident should call the IHIT Tip Line at 1-877-551-4448 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.

With a report from CTV Vancouver’s Nafeesa Karim