A man is dead and homicide investigators in Metro Vancouver believe they are dealing with the latest targeted hit.

RCMP Cpl. Dale Carr says the 20-year-old man was gunned down in his car in front of a shopping centre in Coquitlam, just east of Vancouver.

The shooting happened just before 10 p.m. Wednesday night but although the parking lot was busy, no one else was hurt.

Carr says the attack has all the earmarks of a targeted shooting but the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team is still gathering evidence.

He has not said if the killing could be linked to gangs, organized crime or the drug trade.

There have been more than 50 shootings in Metro Vancouver since 2009 -- many of them linked to a deadly gang war, but the attacks have subsided over the last nine months.