Homicide investigators have identified the victim of an early morning shooting in Surrey as a young man associated with a conflict between groups of low-level drug traffickers in the city that has resulted in more than 20 shootings in Surrey and Delta since March 9.
Arun Paul Singh Bains, 22, was not one of the people identified by police last week as involved in the ongoing “turf war,” but investigators said Sunday that he was known to associate with those individuals.
Bains was shot shortly before 3 a.m. near 126th Street and 88th Avenue. He was rushed to hospital, but succumbed to his injuries.
CTV News has since confirmed that Bains is the nephew of Surrey-Newton NDP MLA Harry Bains, who said Monday he is not commenting on the death at this time.
The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team is asking anyone who was in the area before 3 a.m. to contact the IHIT tip line at 877-551-4448 or at ihittipline@rcmp-grc.gc.ca.
IHIT is also interested in speaking to anyone with information about Bains’ actions before his death.
“This murder is a tragic incident,” said Surrey RCMP Sgt. Dale Carr. “One that we feared would happen in light of the recent string of shootings. Our deep concern now is that there may be a retaliation incident. We are appealing to those involved in this ongoing dispute to not take any more lives and to understand that this is more than gunplay. It’s murder.”
Most of the shooting incidents have taken place on Surrey streets numbered in the 120s at avenues numbered between 60 and 90.
Many of the residents who live near this latest shooting are fed up.
“Honestly, it’s ridiculous, you know?” said Janarth Mathivannan, who lives nearby. “Like, 23 shootings since March? Come on.”
He said the neighbourhood hasn’t had these sorts of problems for most of the 16 years he’s live in it.
“It’s a beautiful area,” he said. “We’ve never had anything like this happen."
