3 shootings in 15 hours highlights "escalating violence" in Downtown Eastside: VPD

Sep 23 2019, 8:12 pm

Police have released further details regarding the three shootings that took place in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.

According to a police report from the VPD, the shootings took place over a 15-hour period and sent four people to the hospital with injuries.

Two of the shootings took place on Sunday, September 22. The first took place near East Hastings St and Dunlevy Ave just before 4 pm.

A Vancouver woman posted on Twitter that it took place at the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users (VANDU). The VPD says that a 50-year-old Surrey male was taken to the hospital with serious injuries.

The second of the two shootings took place just hours later, at approximately 6 pm, in the area of East Pender St and Abbott St. Two individuals were injured as a result. A 28-year-old Langley male and a 25-year-old Surrey male were taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

The latest shooting occurred on Monday morning at around 6:30 am, this time near East Hastings St and Abbott St. During the incident, a 50-year-old Vancouver man was sent to the hospital with serious injuries.

Police say that the VPD’s Major Crime Detectives are investigating all three incidents and that they are all believed to be targeted and linked to gang activity.

“No arrests have been made at this time,” reads the report.

The VPD also says that the “escalating levels” of crime and violence in the Downtown Eastside has been of increasing concern.

“Police have increased resources in the area, including deploying more patrol officers and officers who specialize in gang crime,” says the VPD’s statement. “In addition, police will be placing the VPD’s public safety trailer with a camera in strategic locations around the Downtown Eastside to monitor criminal activity.”

“These three shootings, in such a short time frame, highlight the escalating violence in the Downtown Eastside,” says Deputy Chief Constable Howard Chow, Operations, VPD. “Criminals are looking to take advantage of the current situation and are putting vulnerable people at risk.”

Anyone with dashcam or cell phone footage of any of the shootings is asked to contact the VPD’s Major Crime Section at 604-717-2500.


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