Homicide team takes over Coquitlam shooting investigation

The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team has been deployed to Coquitlam following a Saturday afternoon shooting that sent one person to hospital with what Mounties initially described as life-threatening injuries.

The gunshots rang out around 4:15 p.m. and sent people living in nearby condos scurrying to their windows.

"I could see two guys, dressed in black with balaclavas on, running down Westwood Street," said a man named Mark who lives in the area.

A cellphone video obtained by CTV News shows two people dressed in black running through a park across the street from where the shooting occurred.

They briefly slow down as they approach someone walking a dog and then speed up again, disappearing into a stand of trees.

On Sunday, Coquitlam RCMP did not confirm if the victim had died and directed further inquiries about the shooting to IHIT.

Phone calls and emails to the homicide team were not returned.

One day after the shooting, the area remained behind yellow police tape as more than a dozen officers scoured the area for evidence.

Police also used a drone to gather video of the area.

Saturday's shooting was the third in the area in as many days—leaving nearby residents concerned about their safety.

"It's alarming because of the shooting that was just here a few days ago," said Mark. "I mean, what's happening around here?"

On Friday evening at about 10:30 p.m., RCMP responded to a report of shots fired in the area of David Avenue and Mitchell Street.

Officers located someone they identified as a victim, but said that the person was uninjured.

On Thursday, officers with rifles swarmed the intersection of Johnson Street and Glen Drive after a car was shot up.

Nobody was injured and police arrested two suspects nearby, but no charges have been announced.

With three shootings in three days, two of them just blocks apart, and one potentially fatal, police are releasing very little information—leaving neighbours wondering why this gun violence has suddenly flared up so close to home.