Mayor makes call to action to end cycle of gang violence in Surrey

WATCH: Surrey’s Mayor says she has an idea that might convince suspects in gang shootings to cooperate with police. Jeremy Hunka reports.

There were more calls for action today following a series of shootings that happened over the weekend in Surrey.

RCMP said two of the last three shootings, which sent four men to hospital, are connected to the on-going drug war in Surrey.

According to Mounties and Surrey Mayor Linda Hepner, investigators are still attempting to gather information from uncooperative victims involved in the shots that were fired outside a Surrey restaurant on June 8 but have established the incident is related to an “on-going low level, drug trade turf war that has been happening since March.”

Police also said the gunfire exchanged on June 14, which wounded two men and brought the total of connected shootings to 18, was related to gang and drug activity. Both men shot during Saturday night’s incident in the 18600 block of Highway 10 have non-life threatening injuries and are not cooperating with police.

Hepner said in a press conference on Monday that she’s furious at some shooting victims because they won’t cooperate with police and wants changes to the Civil Forfeiture Act in similar situations so taxpayers would not be left holding the bag.

“These people are taking full advantage when they’re hurt, when they’re injured, when they’re shot and some of them when they’re shot more than one time,” Hepner said.

“They should be paying back the cost or their family should be paying back the cost. This is really quite unconscionable within any civil society.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "These people are taking full advantage when they're hurt, when they're injured, when they're shot and some of them when they're shot more than one time," Hepner said.</p><p>"They should be paying back the cost or their family should be paying back the cost. This is really quite unconscionable within any civil society."

However the Surrey Association of Sustainable Communities said they need to come up with a better solution and calls Hepner’s response “reactionary” and would result in doing nothing to curb violence.

Investigators are still looking for the silver Pontiac Vibe last seen fleeing from the area westbound on Highway 10 immediately after the  June 14 shooting. A light-coloured SUV which police believes is connected to the shooting was seized.

On Monday, Surrey RCMP released the photo of one of the victims who is not cooperating with police, 28-year-old Ravinder Samra. This is the second time Samra has been shot and although he has been to the hospital twice, he is not cooperating with police. By releasing Samra’s photo, police hope it will help move the investigation forward.

So far, police said they have learned Samra was at the Cactus Club in Langley prior to the shooting and is asking anyone who was at the restaurant and has information relating to the 28-year-old to call police.