BURNABY, B.C. — Homicide detectives say the latest fatal shooting in Metro Vancouver is not random but that it's too early to tell if the victim was targeted.
The man was shot and critically injured on a street in a residential area of southeast Burnaby, B.C., and died in hospital.
Sgt. Frank Jang with the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team says the man in his 40s was attacked just after 10 p.m. on Thursday.
He lived in the area, but Jang says his name is not being released while family members are contacted.
Jang says police have an early theory that the killing may be linked to the drug trade after earlier saying that gangs did not appear to be involved.
The shooting occurred near the same park where 32-year-old Chris Kenworthy was gunned down on Feb. 3, and Jang says the timeline and proximity are "concerning" but the two homicides do not appear to be linked.
A burning, abandoned vehicle has been found after several of the more than half-dozen targeted hits across Metro Vancouver since December, but Jang says no such vehicle has been reported in the latest homicide.
He says the killer may have left the area in some other way.
"This person may have left the area on foot, may have got into a vehicle. Somebody may have been helping this person," Jang told a news conference on Friday.
"We know that our victim met with somebody in this area," he says.
"Something went awry, something went wrong. Shots were fired and our victim was left with gunshot wounds and later died in hospital."
"Our job, right now, is to find the shooter," he says.
No arrests have been made in any of the fatal, targeted or gang-related shootings across Metro Vancouver since late last year, including one in December that killed a 14-year-old Burnaby youth in Surrey.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 12, 2021.
The Canadian Press
