The head of the British Columbia RCMP says police are focused on ensuring public safety and combating a rise in gang violence in the wake of a recent wave of shootings in the province over the past week.
“Our commitment to keep you safe remains,” Deputy Comm. Dwayne McDonald told a news conference Monday afternoon.
The news conference was held just hours after a series of shootings overnight in Langley City and Langley Township that left two people dead and two more injured. The suspect was later killed by police Monday morning.
That shooting came a day after two men were killed in a targeted shooting in Whistler on Sunday, which police say was connected to the wider Lower Mainland gang conflict. Police announced Monday that two men are facing murder charges for that shooting.
On Thursday, two women were killed and a man was injured in a shooting at a Chilliwack home. The suspected gunman in that shooting was found dead Monday after spending days on the run from police, McDonald confirmed.
While police say there’s no longer a threat to public safety connected to the Langley and Chilliwack shootings, resources are being spent to ensure the gang-connected Whistler shooting doesn’t lead to further violence.
Agencies responsible for addressing gang violence in B.C., including the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit and specialized units of the RCMP, are meeting to discuss the growing crime wave, McDonald said.
“It is our hope to mitigate any retaliation for this particular incident in Whistler, but I can say we have multiple investigations ongoing into these groups and we’re confident that we can put a lid on this,” he told reporters.
“If there’s bullets flying around, the public is at risk, and it’s our job as police to stop it, to remove that risk, and to ensure it doesn’t happen again. I can guarantee you that I, all the RCMP and our municipal agencies are dedicated to that end.”
At a separate news conference in Victoria, Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth praised the actions of police who responded to the Langley shooting and are investigating the other recent acts of violence.
“They work hard 24 hours a day, seven days a week to keep us safe, and their passion and commitment to public service is redoubled in the face of the types of events that we have witnessed over the past number of days,” he said.
He later defended police’s use of emergency alerts for the Langley shooting, despite some criticisms that it was farther-reaching than necessary and sometimes shared incomplete information that created some confusion.
Although he said police were dealing with a “fluid situation” at the time, he said lessons were learned from past cases involving emergency alerts like the active shooter threat in Vanderhoof last year and the 2020 Nova Scotia mass shooting.
The minister added a review will be done into how the alerts were managed to ensure more lessons are learned for future events.
Farnworth released a joint statement with Premier John Horgan in response to the Langley shootings, calling them “extremely concerning and unacceptable.”
“With today’s tragic events, we reaffirm our government’s commitment to tackling gun violence in all communities throughout B.C.,” the statement reads.