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Victim of East Vancouver shooting identified as gangster Matthew Navas-Rivas

Click to play video: 'Man shot in front of East Vancouver elementary school'
Man shot in front of East Vancouver elementary school
Police are looking for suspects in the fatal shooting of a 28-year-old man in front of an elementary school. Jill Bennett has the latest – Jul 26, 2018

The man who was gunned down in East Vancouver Wednesday night was 27-year-old Matthew Navas-Rivas.

He was shot and killed while walking his dog with his girlfriend in the area of Cambridge and Nanaimo Streets.

WATCH: Vancouver police have now confirmed the identity of the man gunned down in an East Vancouver Wednesday night

Click to play video: 'Vancouver’s 12th homicide victim identified'
Vancouver’s 12th homicide victim identified

“Just before 8 o’clock on Wednesday night the victim and his friend were walking their dogs near Cambridge and Nanaimo Street when a suspect approached and shot the victim, before fleeing in a waiting vehicle,” said Vancouver Police Department (VPD) Const. Jason Doucette.

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Doucette said police are now issuing a public call for any video captured in the area at the time of the shooting.

“We’ve had a lot of success in the past where we’ve made a plea to people to say, ‘If you’ve been in the area, like this one here, between 7:30 and 8:30 p.m. [on Wednesday], and you have dash-cam video, please give us a call,'” Doucette said.

“You may have information that you don’t know is important. It could be important to us.”

Navas-Rivas is known to police and has been involved in gang activity in the past.

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He was arrested this past January by Vancouver’s Organized Crime Unit on 39 gun charges and he was convicted in 2013 of holding a family at gunpoint.

The suspect in the shooting Wednesday fled in a waiting vehicle.

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Matthew Navas-Rivas is the brother of Jinagh Navas-Rivas, who was Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson’s foster son for two years a number of years ago.

This was Vancouver’s 12th homicide of the year.

Detectives would like to speak with anyone with dash cam footage who was driving in the area of Nanaimo Street and Cambridge Wednesday between 7:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.

Anyone who may have information about this incident, and has not yet spoken with police, is asked to contact homicide detectives at 604-717-2500 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.

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