Homicide investigation launched in Surrey after woman found dead, man seriously injured

SURREY, B.C. -

The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team has been deployed to Surrey’s Guildford neighbourhood, where a woman was found dead Sunday evening.

Authorities say she and another man with life-threatening injuries were discovered in an apartment building on 102A Avenue near 150th Street shortly after 6 p.m.

IHIT says it knows how the woman was killed and how the man was wounded but is not releasing those details at this time.

“Because this happened in a very isolated situation within a residence, we're not going to be releasing that information just yet,” said spokesperson Sgt. Timothy Pierotti.

“I can say that very few people would know that information and it could be beneficial to our investigation to determine if somebody, anyone who knows this would likely have had access to the building and had been in the suite.”

Pierotti says the man and woman have been identified, but would not release their names.

The gruesome discovery was first made by firefighters.

They were responding to a fire alarm and a sprinkler system that had been activated in one of the suites.

While crews were evacuating the 64-unit building, they found the woman dead and the man injured.

A neighbour, who didn’t want to be identified, said the situation escalated quickly.

“I heard sirens, then the fire engine started coming, the ambulance. Then when the police came, I said ‘This is more than what I think.’ Then water started coming down. Raining, raining in the lobby,” he told CTV News.

Police are still trying to determine whether the alarms were triggered by the violence.

News of the tragedy spread quickly among the already shaken evacuees.

They said the violence happened in a suite on the fourth floor.

Neighbours say a father lived there, and a woman, believed to be his partner, was seen in the building often.

“This fellow goes in and out. He's got about three kids, maybe 14,,12, 10,” said Michael Syvla, who’s on the building’s strata council.

Sylva says he spoke to the man a few times as he had lived there for several years.

“He was single, a single parent,” said Syvla, adding that he believes a woman moved in about a month ago.

IHIT says the pair were not immediate family and are working to determine the nature of their relationship.

It says the motive remains unclear.

“We're still keeping our options open to determine who is responsible for this, we have yet to identify one specific suspect in this investigation. But anyone with information, anyone who has knowledge of what could have transpired within this building or within this unit, particularly, if you could please contact IHIT,” said Pierotti.

He would not say if the pair were known to police, but does not believe there is an ongoing risk to the public.

All units inside the building were evacuated for about three hours.

Transit buses were brought in to shelter people until they were allowed to return to their homes.

Surrey Fire Service confirmed the alarms and sprinklers were not triggered by a fire. was no fire

Assistant Chief Greg McRobbie said six to eight units were damaged in the flooding and those residents would be unable to return for quite some time.

A restoration company could be seen working on the building Monday morning. 

Anyone with information about the investigation is asked to call the IHIT information line at 1-877-551-IHIT (4448) or email [e-mail].