LANGLEY, B.C. -- One man is dead and another has been injured after a late-night shooting in Langley, homicide investigators said Wednesday.
And part of the crime appears to have been captured on camera.
Langley RCMP were called to the area near 53A Avenue and 207 Street just after 11:30 p.m. Tuesday after getting reports of shots fired. Once they arrived, they found a 22-year-old who had been shot and killed inside a vehicle. Another man, also in his early 20s, was taken to hospital with gunshot wounds. He is expected to survive.
Video surveillance shows a dark-coloured truck drive in the area. Tires are heard screeching followed by what sounds like a series of gunshots.
“The first thing you do is hit the floor because you don’t know if they’re going to come through the wall," one witness told CTV News.
The witness says when he looked outside, he saw one man trying to help a second man who was slumped in a bullet-riddled car.
“He was panicking because obviously his friend was hit. He was trying to help his friend," the witness said.
Other people living in the area also heard the gunfire.
“It sounded like automatic rifle, high powered rifle shots,” explained Sandy Diamond.
"This has all the hallmarks of a targeted hit," Sgt. Frank Jang of the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team told reporters Wednesday morning. "The victim was known to police and we believe this murder may be linked to the drug trade."
IHIT blocked off part of the Langley neighbourhood early Wednesday morning as investigators collected evidence. Police finally cleared the scene just before 5 p.m.
Initially, a dark coloured sedan was left running in the middle of the street, its windows littered with bullet holes.
Police officers laid down more than 30 evidence markers, many of them next to shell casings. Some witnesses said they heard dozens of shots.
IHIT also set up a black tent on the corner next to the vehicle, blocking the area from view.
About 15 minutes after the shootings, RCMP in Surrey responded to reports of a burnt out truck near 180th Street and 20th Avenue . IHIT is working to determine if it is connected. The truck appears similar to the one seen in surveillance video from Langley.
The Surrey scene is located next to Redwood Park, an area popular with families.
Back in Langley, the shootings happened on a residential street that is home to many apartments. Concerned residents watched the investigation unfold from their balconies.
“It’s horrible. There’s a school and a preschool and there’s the boys and girls club," said Tanya Bailey, who lives nearby.
She says she’s witnessed lots of drug-related activities in the area.
“Drug use in the neighbourhood, it’s big time,” she said
RCMP don't yet know if this is connected to the ongoing gang violence plaguing the Lower Mainland. IHIT says there have been six deadly shootings in about a month.
Investigators in the Langley case are asking for surveillance footage or cellphone video from both areas.
