A group of concerned Abbotsford residents are fed up with ongoing gang violence and crime, and held a rally in their community Sunday.

The gathering at Rotary Stadium saw several hundred attendees who said they are worried for their safety and frustrated with the escalating violence.

“We are hurt. Everyday there’s so many young people who are killing, getting killed, or fighting,” said Indergit Singh Bains, a volunteer with Wake Up Abbotsford.

“We don’t feel safe and we are so afraid of what’s happening.”

The rally comes nearly two weeks after a 19-year-old was gunned down outside a busy movie theatre in Mission.

Authorities said Varinderpal Gill had ties to gangs and two months before his murder, Abbotsford police issued a warning that he posed “a significant risk to the public.”

"Because many gang shootings occur in public places, this means Varinderpal Gill’s presence in public places creates a serious risk to public safety as well," the department said at the time.

Const. Paul Walker with the gang unit in Abbotsford said the gang conflicts are being observed across the Lower Mainland and have fatal consequences.

“The dangers are deadly,” Walker said. “We are seeing younger and younger people out there getting murdered as a result of being in various lifestyles and various stages of the gang violence.”

Sunday’s gathering raises the question: how can it be stopped?

Bains hopes the candidates running in the civic election can come up with some solutions.

“How are they going to control all the gang war? How are they going to control the drugs? How are they going to make good policies for our safety?”

He believes that along with the community, newly elected politicians can come up with some answers.

With files from CTV Vancouver’s Ben Miljure