Fatal shooting under investigation in Burnaby: RCMP

Police are investigating a fatal shooting in Burnaby that happened late Tuesday night.

Burnaby RCMP said it was called to Hastings Street between Beta and Gamma avenues about shots being fired at about 11 p.m. When they arrived, officers found one man dead.

The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team was also called to the area.

Investigators shut down Hastings Street for several hours and set up a black tent outside DejaVu Hookah Lounge and Kearney Funeral Services.

Officers scoured the area using metal detectors and laying down evidence markers.

“We heard like a pop, pop, pop noise. We didn't really think much of it. We looked outside and a couple minutes later the whole street was shut down with officers and yellow tape,” said Dave McKenzie who lives nearby.

McKenzie took a video of the crime scene from his apartment.

“I didn't know what I was looking at the time. But yeah, there's one guy who was shot and he was on the ground. By the time we came downstairs with the neighbours to check it out, they had already covered him up with a yellow tarp,” he described.

“I didn't realize that until this morning when I was looking through my videos, and I saw it. I'm like, oh, God."

He told CTV News Wednesday morning that he was still processing what he’d seen, saying he’s not used to that kind of violence in North Burnaby.

“It's happening everywhere right now. The neighbourhood is just worried about strays, accidental hits, things like that. We're not worried about getting shot directly. It's just the accidental things,” he explained.

IHIT has not released any details about who the victim was.

“What I can say is investigators have identified the victim, we're still trying to work to notify the family. So at this point, we're not releasing that information to the public,” said Sgt. Timothy Pierotti, of IHIT.

About 20 minutes after the shooting, officers were called to a vehicle fire about eight kilometres away, on Burnlake Drive near Woodlake Court.

Charred pavement, broken glass and burnt car parts could be seen on the side of the road in the residential area Wednesday morning.

“Based on the timing, we believe that it is linked, in terms of knowing for sure we want to wait until our forensic experts have gone through both scenes and are able to find some strong links that way,” said Pierotti.

The make and model of the vehicle have not been released, but police are now asking for dash-cam video of the area.

"Traffic on Hastings Street between Gamma Avenue and Beta Avenue, and the surrounding area, will likely be affected for several hours due to the ongoing investigation," Burnaby RCMP said in a news release Wednesday morning.

Pierotti says IHIT is working to determine whether the shooting was gang-related, but does believe it was targeted.

“What I can say is any kind of situation like this, where there's shootings, we do consult with (Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit B.C.) to determine if they have any intelligence they can share with us that would indicate whether it is gang related at this one, we're still trying to determine that,” Pierotti told CTV News.

Anyone with information or dash-cam video from either scene is asked to call IHIT at 1-877-551-4448.