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1 dead, 2 injured in shooting at Burnaby Cactus Club

Click to play video: 'Gang member identified as Metro Vancouver’s 11th shooting victim in one month'
Gang member identified as Metro Vancouver’s 11th shooting victim in one month
Jaskeert Kalkat, 23, was identified as Metro Vancouver's latest shooting victim Friday. He was shot dead when at least 20 bullets flew outside a busy South Burnaby restaurant, metres from where families were enjoying a pleasant night on the patio. Rumina Daya reports. – May 14, 2021

One person was killed and two others injured after yet another brazen shooting in Metro Vancouver, this time outside a Burnaby Cactus Club restaurant Thursday night.

On Friday, the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) identified the victim as Jaskeert Kalkat, a 23-year-old who was affiliated with gang activity.

Kalkat’s criminal history includes assault causing bodily harm and assault with a weapon. In 2019 he was sentenced to probation and a firearms prohibition.

Click to play video: 'Gang-style shooting outside Burnaby restaurant'
Gang-style shooting outside Burnaby restaurant

Two other people, a man and a woman, were also targeted in the shooting, IHIT said Friday. They suffered severe injuries but are expected to survive.

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Several RCMP officers and other emergency responders convened at the Byrne Road Cactus Club in the Market Crossing shopping complex just off Marine Way after 8 p.m.

A body could be seen covered with a tarp next to a vehicle parked outside the restaurant. Over a dozen bullet holes could be seen littering the vehicle.

Video taken by witnesses showed first responders pulling the body of a young man from the same vehicle and laying him on the pavement.

Click to play video: 'Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth on tackling Metro Vancouver’s gang conflict'
Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth on tackling Metro Vancouver’s gang conflict

Witnesses who spoke to Global News said they saw at least two victims get shot at in the parking lot in front of the restaurant. Those witnesses said one of the victims, the young woman, is a previous employee of the Cactus Club.

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Robert Silayen, who was dining at the Cactus Club with his family, said staff told him and other diners to duck down when shots rang out.

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“It was just like fireworks,” he told Global News. “We’re eating inside Cactus Club so we didn’t know what was going on until they told us to duck down.

“I’m not sure how many (shots), but it was a lot.”

The parking lot in front of the Cactus Club was closed off to the public for hours as police investigated.

Click to play video: 'IHIT appeals to family members not to be ‘complicit’ in gang conflict'
IHIT appeals to family members not to be ‘complicit’ in gang conflict

Sgt. Frank Jang with IHIT said Friday that a burning vehicle was discovered in the 18500 block of  18 Ave. in Surrey just after 9 p.m.

Jang said the suspect vehicle, a white SUV, likely travelled from Burnaby to Surrey along Highway 91, Highway 99 and 16th Ave. and asked the public for dashcam footage from the area.

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The shooting is the latest in a string of brazen acts of gunfire across Metro Vancouver in recent weeks, many of which have been fatal and linked to a wider gang conflict in the Lower Mainland.

Sgt. Frank Jang with IHIT had a stark warning for the people behind the recent spate of violence.

“We are coming after you,” he said. “We are coming after every single one of you.”

One of those shootings was also in Burnaby. A 19-year-old man, Toni Dalipi, was killed in a targeted shooting on May 3 that also saw an innocent bystander get hurt.

It also came just hours after the region’s top police chiefs met with Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth to discuss potential solutions to the growing wave of gang violence.

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Click to play video: 'RCMP respond to escalating gang violence in Lower Mainland'
RCMP respond to escalating gang violence in Lower Mainland

–With files from Jordan Armstrong

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