For the third time in a span of about 15 hours, the Vancouver Police Department (VPD) is investigating gunfire on Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.
A Global News crew called 911 after shots rang out near the International Village Mall at Abbott and West Pender streets shortly after 6 a.m. Monday.
A Global News crew saw a man with a handgun fleeing the scene, possibly retreating into an alley north of West Pender Street.
Members of the VPD’s emergency response team were seen entering the Grand Union Hotel near West Hastings and Abbott streets.
Police say a 50-year-old man suffered serious injuries in Monday’s shooting.
The Global News crew was set up outside the mall reporting on two other shootings that had taken place on Sunday.
On Sunday afternoon, a 50-year-old Surrey man was taken to hospital in serious but stable condition following an attack near Hastings Street and Dunlevy Avenue. He remains in hospital with serious injuries.
Large numbers of police and at least two ambulances were called to the area of the International Village Mall a short time later for a shooting that injured a 28-year-old Langley man and 25-year-old Surrey man. Both men were taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
One mall worker who spoke to Global News said she heard gunfire, then saw a person lying on the ground surrounded by people in front of a Goldies Pizza.
Police said Monday that all three shootings were targeted and may be linked to gang activity.
No arrests have been made.