March 29, 2024

Victim in Fairview Slopes shooting had gang links: Police

A man in his late 20s was gunned down in broad daylight in Fairview Slopes this morning.

Const. Jana McGuinness said the man was shot down around 9:30 a.m. at the corner of Ash Street and West 7th Avenue.

“We do know who he is and do believe he has some gang links,” McGuinness said. “We are working a little further through that investigation in terms of the background of this person.”

The victim’s body lay under a white blanket right outside the Factory Optical as the VPD Major Crime Homicide Squad gathered forensic evidence near the body’s location.

Several witnesses said the victim had been walking his dog, a French bulldog, before he was shot.

Stacey, who would not give her last name, said she went down from her apartment to see if she could help out, but a few other people have already come to the aid of the man.

The man was lying face up with multiple shots in his torso, she added.

“He’s just a typical 20-something guy who’s always courteous and nice and you’d always see him walking his dog,” she said and described the victim as Caucasian.

Another witness, who lived in the same building as the victim and declined to give his name, said he heard at least eight shots and saw a guy wearing a black hoodie running down the street toward an alley.

McGuinness said multiple witnesses including those having coffee at a nearby cafe or who were walking their dogs were taken from the scene and brought to the police station for questioning.

Police won’t confirm reports that a man wearing a balaclava and a black hoodie was seen running south on Ash Street.

“The other thing is we can do a very extensive search in this area, which has a lot of businesses, for surveillance video that will match-up to that description,” McGuinness said. “And hopefully it will capture this person running away and again that would be a great break in the case.”

The shooting is the city’s 13th homicide of 2011.

Local news from metronews.ca/vancouver

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