RCMP investigators were again working overtime in Metro Vancouver on Saturday, dealing with two shootings including one that left a woman lying shot dead in the street.
RCMP Cpl. Dale Carr said Saturday that the latest fatality was a woman who was shot to death in Langley, just south of Vancouver.
Investigators say the victim is a 36-year-old woman from the Langley/Surrey area, who is known to police. They believe her death is linked to the street level drug trade.
About 12 hours earlier, a man was shot in Surrey but his injuries are not believed to be life-threatening.
Carr said Langley RCMP received a call of shots fired about 5 a.m. Saturday and officers were on the scene immediately because they were in the area.
"They came across the scene of a deceased female," said Carr.
Carr said homicide investigators, already dealing with a staggering list of fatal shootings since January, were checking out reports of vehicles in the area at the time of the shooting.
"We certainly are aware of reports of vehicles seen in the area and leaving the area. We want to confirm that before we talk about that."
The death Saturday was the third shooting involving a woman since mid-February, including Nicole Marie Alemy, 23, who was shot to death while driving her husband's Cadillac in suburban Surrey last month.
Alemy's four-year-old son was in the back of the vehicle when police found her slumped over the steering wheel.
"This is certainly an unusual turn of events, having three women murdered but we haven't got anything at all to suggest anything is linked to each other," said Carr.
Meanwhile, in Surrey, police say they've identified a suspect in the Friday evening shooting.
One man was rushed to hospital with serious injuries after he was gunned down in a quiet Surrey neighbourhood.
RCMP Staff Sgt. Blair McColl couldn't elaborate on how police identified the suspect or when that suspect might be arrested.
But McColl said Mounties don't believe the incident was gang related.
"Nothing at this point indicates that," he said.
McColl said the victim's injuries are not believed to be life threatening.
Mounties were called to the scene after getting numerous reports of shots fired.
When officers arrived, they found a man on the street, suffering from gunshot wounds.
Neighbours say they heard between two and four gunshots around 5:30 p.m.
Metro Vancouver has been hit with more than 35 shootings since January that have left 15 people dead.
With a report by The Canadian Press
