Surrey RCMP are reaching out to the Fraser Heights neighbourhood after what police are calling a targeted shooting on Friday that left an 18-year-old dead.
He was found bleeding on the grassy boulevard in front of homes on Abbey Drive near 176th Street just after 5 p.m.
On Thursday afternoon, officers made themselves available outside an elementary school, to chat with residents about their concerns.
George Hecomovic told them he’s scared.
“I’m sick and tired of it. You can’t even get into your car and go for a drive without saying the wrong thing or looking at another person in another car the wrong way without thinking, ‘Does he have a gun or a bat or a knife?’ “Is he going to run me off the road, what’s going to happen?’ It’s come down to that. It sucks.”
Susan Amstutz is a Block Watch captain, and she says her neighbours have been rocked by the murder.
“We thought, ‘Well, these things are happening all over Surrey and the Lower Mainland,’ and we are what we think is a nice quiet neighbourhood. But I think sometimes, that’s where these people tend to hide.'”
City Coun. Brenda Locke also turned up and she too has experienced violence recently not far from her house.
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“Almost a day and a half, I couldn’t get into my own neighbourhood. Yeah, it’s very close to home. It’s close to everybody’s home and I am concerned for all of us in Surrey.”
Locke says in general, people in Surrey are afraid and shaken up by all the recent violence.
Meanwhile, Surrey RCMP is launching a new team to help provide support to families whose kids may be heading down the wrong path.
Insp. Wendy Mehat says it’s called the “Family Youth Response Team,” and it will be up and running soon.
“Basically what this is, we’ve partnered up with school counsellors, and our police officers will be working in correlation having these counsellors on board to provide support to families to check in with them who have issues, especially with their own children or concerns.
“For instance, ‘Is my child getting involved in gangs?’ My child has a lot of money, cellphones — I’m concerned. What can I do?”
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