A convicted criminal shot to death outside a Vancouver halfway house earlier this fall was the victim of mistaken identity, Vancouver Police say.
Raj Soomel, 35, was gunned down outside a home at Cambie Street and 19th Ave. September 29. He had recently been paroled after being convicted in March 2008 of attempting to murder Hardip Uppal.
Investigators with the Vancouver Police Department are working with the theory Soomel was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
"[He] fell victim to gang hit men in a murder gone wrong," Const. Lindsey Houghton told reporters Wednesday.
Police say hit men found Soomel when they came to the home looking for another parolee staying at the home.
Houghton would not release his identity but sources told CTV News it is Randy Naicker.
Naicker, the founder of the Independent Soldiers gang, was staying at the same halfway house with Soomel and had been convicted of kidnapping.
Both men are South Asian.
Houghton said the target, who is now back in jail, has been contacted by police and warned his life may still be in danger.
Sources told CTV News the notorious UN gang ordered the hit - but the hired killers hit the wrong man.
After Soomel's death the halfway home, run by the B.C. Borstal Association, said it would no longer accept anyone with gang ties.
The Correctional Service of Canada told CTV News Wednesday a policy review is ongoing.
The agency is examining its policies and practices to find out how two gangsters ended up in the same halfway house and why police were not notified of the placement.
