Cdn-Firearms Digest Friday, October 3 2008 Volume 12 : Number 361 In this issue: Gang affiliate shot dead in Oakridge parking lot - Vancouver Sun ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 3 Oct 2008 09:51:42 -0700 (PDT) From: Bruce Mills Subject: Gang affiliate shot dead in Oakridge parking lot - Vancouver Sun http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/westcoastnews/story.html?id=c613d377-50fd-43b6-b06e-94667ef8e265 Gang affiliate shot dead in Oakridge parking lot Man with links to Independent Soldiers killed in afternoon hit at busy parkade Kim Bolan, Vancouver Sun Published: Friday, October 03, 2008 VANCOUVER - A brazen afternoon shooting in a busy Vancouver mall parkade has left one man with gang affiliations dead. Between 10 and 20 shots rang out on the bottom level of Oakridge's underground parking lot just after 2 p.m. Thursday, Vancouver police Const. Tim Fanning told reporters gathered in front of yellow police tape. Fanning said the man, whose identity is being withheld, was taken to hospital with gunshot wounds and later pronounced dead. Vancouver police taped off parts the bottom level of Oakridge Mall's underground parking lot after a shooting Thursday.View Larger Image The Vancouver Sun has learned that the man was affiliated with the Independent Soldiers, one of the biggest drug-trafficking gangs in the city. The Sun has also learned that police located a wig believed to have been worn by one of the killers a few blocks east of the mall. Witnesses told police that two male suspects were seen running east from the parkade toward Cambie Street. A police helicopter circled overhead as dogs searched nearby bushes and alleyways looking for evidence that might have been left by the killers. "In a major investigation like this we have already begun to do a video canvass of the area, all the stores around here, any video that might have picked up images of the crime or the criminals," Fanning said. He said relatives of people working or shopping at the crowded mall should be reassured that the shooting bore all the earmarks of a targeted hit. "The suspects were either laying in wait or followed our victim and took the opportunity to open fire on him," Fanning said. "In the homicide investigation, the body is a piece of evidence ... we have to wait until the autopsy, until we can fingerprint the body." Parents with young children were in the parking lot when the hit was carried out. The area surrounded by police tape prevented several car owners from returning to their vehicles. At least one car had a flat tire from an apparent stray bullet. There were at least 25 investigators at the scene, including several wearing jackets of the integrated gang task force. "There are a number of shell-casings on the ground. We have gathered up some witnesses and they will be going down to police headquarters," Fanning said. Shootings like this, he said, "almost all end up being gang related or related to criminal activity. It certainly won't be a surprise to the police if we find out that our victim is related to criminal activity and or gangs." Fanning said investigators were still trying to figure out if the victim was connected to a car in the lot. Nor could he yet say whether the man was coming or going from the mall when he was killed. "The gang problem is not exclusive to Vancouver. It is something we see throughout the whole Lower Mainland. Traditionally we used to see a lot of problems in the downtown core, the entertainment area. Since we started the gang task force last November, we have done thousands of checks of known gang members and their associates and we have been very successful in decreasing the spur-of-the-moment shootings that we saw." But the execution-style slayings continue, he said, usually over drug-trade disputes. "As far as targeted shootings, they are still going on. We do everything we can to try to stop them. They are a very difficult crime to solve," Fanning said. "Today's suspects are often tomorrow's victims. This lifestyle is extremely dangerous and short-lived. So many of these people are killed in their 20s and 30s and this may very well be the case today." kbolan@vancouversun.com ------------------------------ End of Cdn-Firearms Digest V12 #361 *********************************** Submissions: mailto:cdn-firearms-digest@scorpion.bogend.ca Mailing List Commands: mailto:majordomo@scorpion.bogend.ca Moderator's e-mail address: mailto:drg.jordan@sasktel.net List owner: mailto:owner-cdn-firearms@scorpion.bogend.ca FAQ list: http://www.canfirearms/Skeeter/Faq/cfd-faq1.html Web Site: http://www.canfirearms.ca CFDigest Archives: http://www.canfirearms.ca/archives To unsubscribe from _all_ the lists, put the next four lines in a message and mailto:majordomo@scorpion.bogend.ca unsubscribe cdn-firearms-digest unsubscribe cdn-firearms-chat unsubscribe cdn-firearms end (To subscribe, use "subscribe" instead of "unsubscribe".)