A string of recent shootings in Surrey has prompted concerned residents to call for action before innocent lives are lost.
On Sunday night, Surrey Memorial Hospital was surrounded by RCMP officers after a drive-by shooting.
A couple of nights prior, a car crash in Surrey turned into a suspicious death investigation. Police say a car struck a tree Friday, and officers found a man suffering injuries that were not consistent with the crash. Investigators say the man’s death is suspicious and they believe the victim was targeted.
Neighbours say they hope the recent violence isn’t the start of a gang war similar to the one that gripped the city last year.
“It’s real for us,” Doug Elford of the Newton Community Association said. “We feel it every day and we don’t want this to escalate into what happened before. They’ve got to get on top of this now before it gets really bad.”
So far, there have been no arrests in connection with the two incidents.
“We don’t know what the motive for all these shootings are,” Surrey RCMP Cpl. Scotty Schumann said. “I can say that we’re working very hard behind the scenes to try and identify all of the people involved as well as what’s driving them to this sort of violence.”
The violence has sparked numerous public meetings, but to little effect, according to Elford.
One thing police and Elford agree on — people need to call the RCMP with any information.
“We can’t have another year like last year where we are living in fear, walking the streets with the chance of getting hit by bullets,” Elford said.
– With files from John Daly and The Canadian Press