Police are investigating a possible link between an afternoon shooting in Burnaby on Friday afternoon and the arrival of a man with gunshot wounds at the Surrey City Centre mall food court roughly two hours later.
Surrey RCMP told CTV News on Saturday that a link is being investigated, though officers could not provide a definitive answer as to whether the two events are connected.
Witnesses to the Burnaby shooting told CTV News they heard screaming in the 3800-block of Hastings Street at roughly 3 p.m.
Karen, who didn’t give her last name, said she was working in a nearby building when a colleague notified her of an injured man in the parking lot.
“I tried to find out what happened but he wouldn’t tell me, he just says he feels like he’s dying, he doesn’t feel good, and he just continuously said ‘I need help, I’ve been shot,’” she said.
She said she stayed with the victim and held his hand while other witnesses came to help.
“I saw him laying on the ground and he had already had lots of blood all over him, and pretty much was out of his shoes, laying on the ground just screaming,” said another witness named Bliss.
At around 4:45 p.m. that day, Surrey RCMP received a call about a man in the Surrey City Centre mall food court who had apparently been shot.
Officers responded and found the man, who was "visibly bleeding" from two gunshot wounds.
RCMP said he was initially uncooperative, but eventually agreed to be taken to hospital, where he was transported in serious condition.
The Surrey resident in his 20s is known to police and has suggested the shooting occurred in a different community, but has not been forthcoming with information.
Witnesses told officers that the man took the SkyTrain to Surrey Central Station and then entered the mall a short time before he was found by police.
With files from The Canadian Press and CTV Vancouver's Mi-Jung Lee
