South Vancouver shooting was targeted, police seeking 3 people seen leaving the scene
Police say Vancouver's eighth homicide of 2021 was targeted, but they're not yet saying whether the Friday night shooting was gang related.
Officers were called to the intersection of Kent Avenue and Kerr Street around 10 p.m. for reports of shots fired across from Riverfront Park, Vancouver police said Saturday.
When they arrived, police said, they found 44-year-old Alvis Anjesh Singh dead in his vehicle.
Vancouver Police Department spokesperson Const. Tania Visintin told reporters at a news conference Saturday afternoon that Singh was known to police, and that investigators believe he was targeted.
She stopped short of connecting the killing to the ongoing Lower Mainland gang conflict, however.
"This definitely was a targeted incident," Visitin said. "Investigators are still determining if it's part of the current gang conflict. I believe (the victim) has, years ago, there were some gang ties there, but (investigators are) determining if it's part of the present conflict."
Laura Ubial was sitting at her table doing some work when she heard the shots.
“I heard loud pops,” she told CTV News Vancouver. “At least seven or eight? That’s what my husband and I thought we heard.”
Ubial said she went out on her porch to see what was going on.
“I did see a vehicle leaving rather quickly,” she said. “I think it was a light-coloured, small SUV, but I didn’t get the type of car.”
The squealing tires and gunshots woke up Hannah Amar.
“I heard the men shouting, they were shouting, ‘That was gun shots, that was gun shots,’” she told CTV News.
She added that shortly after officers arrived, she “heard police say they found it at 59th and Ontario.”
Sure enough, police confirmed Saturday that a burned-out SUV was found near Sexsmith Elementary School, near the intersection of West 59th Avenue and Ontario Street, shortly after the shooting.
"The investigation is still in the preliminary stages, but investigators believe the burnt out vehicle is connected to the homicide," police said in a news release.
Investigators are looking for three people who were seen inside a silver SUV with a sunroof that drove east on Kent Avenue after the shots were heard, police said.
They're asking anyone who has dash cam video from between 9 p.m. and 11 p.m. Friday in the area of Langara Golf Course and Sexsmith Elementary School to contact the Vancouver Police Department's Homicide Unit at 604-717-2500.
No arrests have been made, police said.
The recent surge in gang killings in Metro Vancouver has tended to follow a pattern, in which getaway vehicles are found torched shortly after shootings take place.
Visintin acknowledged that this latest incident fits that pattern, and said the ongoing gang conflict in the region is troubling to police, and "retaliation is always a concern."
"Of course, it's very concerning," she said. "It's reckless behaviour by these individuals."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Work stoppage possible as WestJet issues lockout notice to maintenance engineers' union
A lockout notice issued by WestJet to a union representing aircraft maintenance engineers could result in a work stoppage next week.
'I just can't believe that it took so long': Body found in wreckage 3 months after deadly fire
A man accused of arson in a January Old Strathcona apartment fire is expected to be charged with manslaughter after a body was discovered in the burned building late last month.
No proof man lied to brother about number of kittens born in litter, B.C. tribunal rules
A man was denied a $5,000 payout from his brother after a B.C. tribunal dismissed his claim disputing how many kittens were born in a litter.
Bodies recovered in Mexico likely 2 Australians, 1 American who went missing: officials
Three bodies recovered in an area of Baja California are likely to be those of the two Australians and an American who went missing last weekend during a camping and surfing trip, the state prosecutor’s office said Saturday.
BREAKING London Drugs begins 'gradual reopening' on 7th day after cyberattack
Almost a week after all London Drugs stores across Western Canada abruptly closed amid a cyberattack, they began a "gradual reopening" on Saturday.
Quebec police hand out hundreds of tickets to Hells Angels and other bikers before 'first run' meeting
Quebec provincial police handed out hundreds of fines to Hells Angels members and other supporting motorcycle clubs who met for their 'first run' in a small town near Sherbrooke, Que.
Auston Matthews skates ahead of Game 7, status unclear with season on the line
Auston Matthews was back on the ice with his teammates Saturday.
Russia puts Ukrainian President Zelenskyy on its wanted list
Russia has put Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on its wanted list, Russian state media reported Saturday, citing the interior ministry’s database.
Snakes almost on a plane: U.S. TSA discovers a bag with small snakes in passenger's pants
According to an X post by the Transportation Security Administration, officers at the Miami International Airport found the small bag of snakes hidden in a passenger's trousers on April 26 at a checkpoint.