Man gunned down in Whalley alleyway, vehicle set ablaze nearby

Police are investigating after a man was gunned down in broad daylight in Surrey's Whalley neighbourhood on Sunday.

Surrey RCMP said officers responded to reports of a shooting in an alleyway near 96 Avenue and 130 Street shortly after 5 p.m., and arrived to find the victim unresponsive in the driver's seat of a white Ford Edge SUV.

Videos posted online show a person on the ground being attended to by paramedics. Authorities said the victim was later pronounced dead at the scene.

Authorities have not released any further details, including the victim's name, but said the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team has been called to help Surrey RCMP investigate the shooting.

"Police are looking for any witnesses or those with dash camera footage from the area," Surrey RCMP said in a news release Monday morning.

A neighbour, who was visibly shaken and did not want to provide their name out of concern for their safety, told CTV News they heard tire screeches and five gunshots in the area. The neighbour said they immediately went into hiding, but later emerged to see the victim wounded inside the vehicle.

“It was a horrific scene because I live here with my kids and family. I don’t think it’s safe to live here anymore,” he said.

Roughly 30 minutes after the shooting, a vehicle was found fully engulfed in flames in the 8200 block of 151A Street which is roughly six kilometres away from where the fatal shots rang out.

A resident, who does not want to be identified, said he grabbed his garden hose trying to douse the flames.

“It's terrifying,” he said. “I was close to the fire. I mean, I was just trying to put it out with a hose because at the time, it was smaller but it just kind of was getting out of control.”

He said as soon as he saw the car fire, he thought that someone had been murdered.

“It’s no surprise these days, I mean, this is a common thing … It is a sad state of affairs,” he said.

He said the car fire damaged his property and he's learned his insurance has been impacted.

“I’m going to be paying a big deductible and the premium is going to go up,” he explained.

Authorities said they are working to determine whether the vehicle is linked to the homicide.

There was a brazen shooting near Fleetwood Park last Wednesday evening, when a man who’s known to police was taken to hospital with a gunshot wound.

Police have not said if last week’s incident is related to the latest shooting.

Surrey RCMP asked anyone who has information on the incident – and hasn’t already spoken with police – to contact the IHIT information line at 1-877-551-4448.

 With files from CTV News Vancouver's Kraig Krause