Bloody Sunday in B.C. keeps law enforcement officers busy

JENNIFER SALTMAN
VANCOUVER DESI

A tarp covers a body in a parkade as police investigate a shooting on 128th Street in Surrey on Jan. 14, 2013. Wayne Leidenfrost/PNG

Two separate shootings that left three people dead in Surrey Sunday night wrapped up a day that saw eight people killed in B.C.

Just before 7 p.m., Surrey RCMP were called to the area of 168th Street and 76th Avenue for a report of shots fired. When officers and B.C. Ambulance Service arrived, they found a man lying in the road. He appeared to be suffering from gunshot wounds.

The man was taken to hospital, where he died just after 11:30 p.m.

Homicide investigators say the shooting was gang-related and targeted and the victim, 27-year-old Surrey resident Manjot Dhillon, is known to police.

Just before midnight, police were called to an apartment building parkade at 128th Street and 94th Avenue to find two men shot to death. The men have not yet been identified.

Investigators can’t say if the second shooting was gang related but Integrated Homicide Investigation Team spokeswoman Sgt. Jennifer Pound said Monday “these two incidents don’t appear to be connected in any way.”

Witnesses saw a green truck or SUV towing a “box utility trailer” leave the parkade after the shots were fired and drive erratically north on 128th Street.

Anyone with information about the homicide or the vehicle is asked to call the IHIT tip line at 1-877-551-IHIT(4448) or email ihittipline@rcmp-grc.gc.ca. If you wish to remain anonymous, visit solvecrime.ca or call 1-800-222-8477.

• Earlier Sunday, police in the central B.C. community of Vanderhoof announced that they are investigating two suspicious deaths after the bodies of two Vanderhoof residents were found in a home. Cause of death was not released.

There’s no indication what time the call came in or how long the bodies were in the home.

The victims have been identified as 29-year-old Blaine Albert Barfoot and 40-year-old Tara Lee Ann Williams. RCMP confirmed that the couple were known to police.

• In Nanaimo, a man is in custody following a fatal stabbing Sunday afternoon.
Nanaimo RCMP were called to a housing complex at about 1:45 p.m., where they found a man with life-threatening stab wounds. The victim was rushed to hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Investigators say a suspect was arrested a short time later and is expected to appear in court in Nanaimo on Monday.
Mounties have not said if the victim and suspect were acquainted.

• Around 2:30 a.m. Sunday, Upper Fraser Valley RCMP were called to a rural home in the 69100-block Othello Road in Hope after two men were found dead.

The victims have been identified, but their names have not been released pending notification of next of kin.

“There’s not a lot I can say about the investigation at this point,” said Pound Monday.

Lauretta Redlich, who runs a trailer park on Othello, said the murder is a mystery to area residents.

“It is normally quiet around here,”she said of the rural setting with only a handful of homes. “This is a real surprise to us.”

— with files from The Canadian Press and John Colebourn

Tags: shootings, Surrey