After an innocent 15-year-old Coquitlam teenager was seriously injured in a “brazen” targeted shooting on a busy Vancouver street Saturday night, the Vancouver Police Department is putting all of its efforts into finding whoever is responsible.
“This is bad and we are concerned about how brazen it was,” Sgt. Jason Robillard said at a press conference at VPD headquarters on Sunday afternoon. “This is a priority for us… We have officers working around the clock using all resources at our disposal.”
The teenager, who is male, was a passenger in a vehicle that was driving in the vicinity of the Indochine restaurant on Broadway at Ontario Street around 9:15 on Jan. 13.
Police are not yet releasing his name. They say he is in serious condition in hospital.
The target of the shooting, a Vancouver man in his twenties who Robillard confirmed is known to police, is in hospital with life-threatening injuries.
A third man, a Vancouver resident in his thirties, sustained minor injuries and was treated at the scene and released. Police believe that he was not a target.
When officers responded to calls about shots being fired in the busy neighbourhood, they located three injured people who were immediately treated by paramedics.
The area surrounding Broadway and Ontario was still closed on Sunday afternoon. About 30 officers “are actively working the scene,” Robillard said at 2 p.m. “It’s quite a scene and we want to make sure we capture it accurately.”
Although police are still investigating a targeted shooting last week near South Marine Drive, Robillard said, “This is rare that this kind of thing happens.”
No arrests have been made.
Investigators with the VPD`s Major Crime Section are appealing to anyone who may have witnessed this shooting or who may have dash-cam footage and driving in the area between 9 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. on January 13, to call (604) 717- 2500.
